Day 99: Lent
(from THE WEALTHY SPIRIT: DAILY AFFIRMATIONS by Chellie
Campbell)
“Going to church does not make you a Christian any more than going to the garage
makes you a car.”—Lawrence J. Peter
In the Christian religion, Lent is the approximately six-week period of
fasting and penitence before Easter. In my youth, I remember my
Catholic friends always “giving something up for Lent,” but the concept
of fasting never took root at my house. I wasn’t very good at giving up
things I liked, such as pecan pie, ice cream, parties, or movies. The
idea of sacrifice completely eluded me.
As I grew older, I better understood the idea, yet still I resisted. If I give
up chocolate for Lent, how does that benefit or glorify God? I didn’t
have the right attitude. Giving up chocolate just made me cranky.
I hit on a plan in the early nineties. I decided that instead of giving up
some pleasure in my life for Lent, I would give up a bad habit. I was
willing to sacrifice a personal failing, a character defect or flaw each
year for at least six weeks. This may not be the spirit of what is meant
by Lent, but it seemed to me that God would smile on this plan and
perhaps appreciate my self-improvement program better than my doing
without dessert. I hoped I would end up a better person instead of a
thinner one.
So the first year, I gave up struggle. The next year, I gave up alcohol.
The year after that, I gave up inappropriate men. In the following years I
gave up criticism, vanity, complaining, envy, tiredness, stage fright, high
heels, smoking. I tried to leave these burdens behind me forever, but
shamefaced, I must confess I have returned to pick some of them up
again. I am, after all, not St. Chellie. I am a work in progress.
Perhaps Lent is not relevant to you—then pick another period of the
year in which to do the same thing. Yom Kippur, the New Year, Summer
Solstice, your birthday—any day you select can mark the beginning of a
six-week period of forging a better self from the ashes of your bad
habits. Don’t sacrifice the good things; they will all be laid on the altar of
mortality eventually.
Sacrifice the little evils, the petty thievery, the unkind comments, panic
attacks, despair. Give up jealousy, hatred, racism, profanity, hitting.
Live without gossip, off-color remarks, jokes told at another’s expense,
fear-based decisions. These are the sacrifices that honor God and your
fellow man.
Today’s Affirmation: “I grow wealthier in spirit every day.”
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A LITTLE ABOUT CHELLIE . . .
Chellie Campbell is the creator of the popular Financial Stress Reduction®
Workshops, and the author of The Wealthy Spirit and Zero to Zillionaire, both
published by Sourcebooks, Inc. She is one of Marci Shimoff's “Happy 100” and 1 of
18 who wrote a story for Marci’s current NYT bestseller Happy for No Reason.
Chellie contributed stories to Jack Canfield’s recent books You’ve Got to Read This
Book! and Life Lessons from Chicken Soup for the Soul , and is featured in How to
Run Your Business Like a Girl by Elizabeth Cogswell Baskin and Money, A Memoir:
Women, Emotions, and Cash by Liz Perle. She is prominently quoted as a financial
expert in The Los Angeles Times, Pink, Good Housekeeping, Lifetime, Essence,
Woman’s World and more than 35 popular books. For more information, visit her
web site www.Chellie.com or email her at Chellie@Chellie.com.
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