I happened to overhear several "What are you giving up for Lent?" conversations several weeks ago. It's been many years since I've made a Lenten sacrifice but I have certainly benefited from giving up something that's pleasurable but not particularly good for me, whether it's pretzels or gossiping.
Sometimes there are habits that we would be well-advised to stop for far more than 40 days. But giving up something for a really long time is hard. We don't always want to sacrifice. What if we reframe it and look at freeing ourselves instead?
Look at how powerful these word swaps are:
Replace "I have to clean up around here" with "I'm freeing myself from clutter."
Replace "I'm not spending right now" with "I'm freeing myself from debt."
Replace "I'm not allowing myself to have sweets" with "I'm freeing myself from the hold sugar has on me."
I'm working on freeing myself from complaining. And judging. And nagging.
The words you use matter.
Free yourself.
Photo by Aditya Saxena on Unsplash