As a life sciences teacher, coach and athlete, Senator Torlakson offers personal insights, inspiration and suggestions for helping us all achieve health and fitness in our lives through his periodic Torlakson’s Tips.
2004 Tip #6:
“Lent” Time—40 Days
Yes. A longer day. Today, once more, has 2-3 minutes more daylight than yesterday.
Is it “lent” time or “loaned” time? Do we “own” the time in our lives? Do we control our time? – or is our use of time dictated by others and by outside forces in our lives?
Most faiths have a calendar to mark the special times of religious celebration and ceremonies. Many faiths have special events celebrating Spring or coinciding with Spring.
Last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday in many Christian faiths and marked the beginning of the pre-Spring season of Lent. In this religious context, 40 days are a time of preparation for Easter – with its message of rebirth, renewal, and resurrection. Lent is designated as a time of fasting, sacrifice and introspection. (While always considered a time for self-examination, the time was changed from 36 days to 40 sometime after 800 AD by Charlemagne. This was done to coincide with the period of time Jesus spent in the desert – focusing, planning out his strategies and future – while resisting the persistent temptations of the Devil.)
“There’s no time like the present… to…”
There’s hardly ever a wrong time to take a “time-out” and examine how we’re using our time. What are we committed to? What are our values? Does our use of time reflect these commitments and values?
From whatever faith we hold, do we have faith in ourselves to commit to a 40-day plan of focus and change?
Coincidently, many fitness and health experts believe it takes about 40 days to develop new positive habits and to modify or drop old habits that are negative. Forty days of awareness can be the time of making and breaking habits, re-prioritizing, thinking about choices.
My friend Brad Kearns taught me this a few years ago. His website has great ideas and a link to the “Power Month” plan that he offers.
“Lent” has nothing to do with “borrowed” time. It comes from an Old English word “lengten” – meaning “Spring.” Its roots go further back to Germanic words “langattin” (long) and “tina” (day).
Lent – or our own 40-day “time-out” – shouldn’t be about “what am I giving up?” but rather “what am I aiming for?” How do we want to use those extra 2-3 minutes – and all our minutes – of the longer Spring days ahead?
