We have various constructs that allow us to rethink and re-evaluate our lives and choices. The end of the calendar year and next beginning, any number of holidays, events, or situations can cause an assessment of how, when, and why.

I choose the Lenten Season to re-establish my purpose and choices, to celebrate all that have come before and release those things I no longer find useful.

In the past, the question or statement around this season was about giving up. "What are you giving up for Lent?"

I ask, "How will you be shaped anew by accepting challenges and allowing them to change you? What are you taking on? How will you grow?"

Giving up and letting go will most certainly address those areas, if we let it. If we commit to feeling the shift that "giving up" opens within us. If we face the ache, hurt, or pain associated with holding on.

The Lenten Season helps me draw the line in some very hard places. Lent gives me permission to draw the line and hold it in those moments I would vacillate. My desire is to have shifted so dramatically that stepping back into the old pattern is not an option.

Here on the journey to a more authentic self...

Blessed be.