Multi-faith lessons

Something you should probably know about me if you don't already: My level of self-discipline leaves something to be desired.  Yes, I'm one of those people that gets pretty easily distracted from a task at hand, typically responding to said distraction by searching for the answers (via Google) to such important questions as "What happened to each of The Sandlot kids?" or "Is Rufio still alive?"

You might be surprised at where they are now.  I was.

And you'd better believe that I often let my guard down whenever I pass Coldstone.  Ice cream for 3 times its rational price?  Yes please.

Only $20?  No sweat.

Please don't get me wrong.  People should treat themselves every now and again, whether it be to ice cream or some soy-laden treat (for my lactose-intolerant friends).  And I have no shame about the fact that I know that the actor who played Yeah Yeah went to prison and appealed to fans of The Sandlot to help pay for his bail.  That being said, I figured that it was time to prove to myself that I could go without a few easy indulgences.

The period of time known as Lent, which I've never observed before this year, proved to be an ideal time to experiment going without something that I typically incorporate needlessly into my life out of habit.  This year's big experiment: Not logging into Facebook for six weeks.

Now, prior to this, if you'd have known how many times I was checking something on the ol' FB, you would have probably sent me an email saying something to the effect of: "Brad, we can't be friends.  You love the internet too much."  Having said this, I was shocked at how easy it was for me to give up logging in for six weeks.

A few great things happened.  One was that I found that I had more time for other things.  You ought to see my left fingers after all the time I've spent practicing on the guitar (not sure if I'm any better, BUT I have devoted more time to the six string).

Even more amazing was the change in the dynamics of my personal relationships.  For whatever reason, I found my interactions with others to be, on the whole, so much more personal and meaningful.

Another wonderful benefit was the increased clarity with which I was able to see myself, particularly the things in my life that are lacking that I need to work on.

Perhaps it seems odd that all these things happened in consequence of not logging into Facebook, but it all happened.

I figured since I was on a roll with observing religious practices that weren't my own, I figured that I may as well try Passover, which basically meant going without food that had any yeast (some of my Jewish colleagues added rice and pasta to that list but there wasn't a strong consensus either way) as well as not combining meat and dairy, which means that I could have a piece of cheese or a piece of ham, but not together.  There's a scripture about that somewhere in the Old Testament that I can't find, but trust me, it's there.

This experiment was harder for a few reasons.  One was that I originally thought that Passover lasted from Monday to Sunday.  It did not.  It lasted from sundown on Monday (which gave me the opportunity to sneak a cheeseburger from the sports bar before too late) to the following Tuesday: 8 days.  That meant two more nights of peanut butter and matzos for dinner and I was not prepared for that.

The second reason is that I ended up eating with friends, on the Thursday in the middle of Passover, at this amazing Asian restaurant which meant that I definitely ate rice.  The following day, I wasn't sure if I'd broken the Passover diet or if I'd been okay, due to lack of consensus about rice.  To settle the matter I went to Domino's Pizza and bought some cheese bread, so that by Friday night I was definitely off.

So there you have it.  I recommend dabbling in other religious practices in an effort to increase your own self control.