Fasting, day 4.

It is that time of year, where i tell you all how much i hate you, your lattes, and your lunches. where i tell you how strange it feels to not have a caffeine-deprivation headache at 11am. where i talk about how much colder i am when there are no snacks in my tummy. where i try to remember the things i knew at some point in time during this blog. and where it tell you how calm and at peace my soul feels.

I'm going to recycle 2010 instead: 19 days where i will try to focus on something other than my incessant need for sugar and coffee. 19 days, where i will try to rise above. The rules are simple: focus on something other than physical needs, don't eat or drink anything from sunrise to sunset, try to maintain a prayerful state. I've found most religions have a form of fasting. Ours looks most like Ramadan in its practice. It's a month i love--it always brings clarity, focus, and determination. I get to pour my stubborn will into something worthwhile. I think of it like exercise--feel the burn, know you are doing the work. Refocus, meditate, find time for my soul.

Fasting is not an easy endeavor for anyone. It is truly a mind over matter exercise that forces you to be more vigilant with your thoughts and to draw from the depths of your self-restraint and detachment. In my head i am still on the roof of the Mansion at Bahji. In my heart, i am there and here--with my family. God has been very gracious to me this year and Bob and Lissa are here for almost all of the fast to share it with me. 

So , i wish each of you well during this period of refreshing one's soul. I am eagerly awaiting the new year, new adventures, and hopefully lots of laughter.