I am by no means a good Catholic, but I’m also not the worst by any means. Sure, I’ve been through confirmation and communion, but if you were to ask me anything about the Bible, I would know a couple of stories and a few prayers. I could tell you what the core beliefs of my religion are, but if you dig past the surface as to why we believe those things, I wouldn’t have many good answers. I’ve visited the Vatican, but really couldn’t tell you much beyond the basic facts that any tourist might know. I even tell new SigEp brothers we interview that I’m an NPRC (non-practicing Roman Catholic), a.k.a. I don’t go to Church that often, but still hold Catholic beliefs. With all of this said, the one part of my religion I really try to stick to is Lent.
To most people that would seem quite odd considering that Lent is not something most people seriously observe beyond giving up something they don’t normally eat and avoiding meat on Fridays. It appears as if you’re giving up random stuff for no particular reason, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Lent gives me the chance to reflect and really try to understand my position in life. After all, the story of Jesus spending 40 days in the desert is observed by the Church as a time of reflection.
I take it kind of seriously for two reasons that really aren’t entirely religious, but rather to reflect and use this opportunity as a chance to improve. This year I’ve given up two things: soda (plus other flavored drinks) and procrastinating. While the first seems like a fairly obvious and easy goal to accomplish (unless you’re in the Stute and know how much I LOVE Pepsi), the second is unusual. It’s not a physical sacrifice but rather a test of my own discipline.
So the first thing that jumped out at me this year was my constant procrastination. I should be getting to bed early in time to be up for work most mornings, but working on my assignments always keeps me up late. It’s never fun to wake up tired and burnt out before the day has even started, so this seemed like an obvious choice to me.
Another part of my reasoning for this does come from the Bible and the story of Jesus rejecting Satan during his 40 days, or if we look at it from a secular perspective, avoid that which corrupts us. That’s my goal here with trying to say no to procrastination. Until Easter, if I have a spare moment and need to get something done, I now am obligated to do it. I know we’ve all said it at some point, “I’m gonna be on top of my work and stop procrastinating,” only to fall back into our old habits within a couple of days. I’m guilty of this time and time again, but for once I actually feel obligated to hold to my commitment (especially because I’m telling all of you, my tens of wonderful readers).
So let’s see how this goes. It may be a total failure and I may just fall back into my old habits, but for the time being, I’m staying on the course. Who knows, I may even break my old habit and become more proactive. I can at least say I tried to improve at the end of the day, and who knows, maybe there’s another lesson to be learned from just attempting this little experiment.
Senioritis is an Opinion column written by a current Stevens student in their last year of study to discuss life experiences during their final year at Stevens, and other related subject matter.
Be First to Comment