Lent: Superficial Sacrifice or Life Altering Mission

       It has been estimated the average human spends just over three hours each day on social media, including blogs, facebook, twitter and so on. I plan on giving up this time during the period of lent. In case you are unaware, lent is the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter, the 40 days set aside in the church to prepare for this momentos holiday.

    I have been asked by a few people "why?" At first it just seemed like something I should do. I mean I grew up in a Catholic Church where you always give up something for lent, usually chocolate. I almost forgot about it in the hustle and bustle of school and work. It was almost forgetting about Lent that made me choose to give up social media, instead of my standard chocolate. As I thought about the true reason behind Lent it is to spend time preparing for the ultimate sacrifice of Christ. It is about walking away from the sinful desires and wants that plague our daily lives. Do I eat too much chocolate? Probably, but is that really keeping me from spending time with God? Not really. Do I spend too much time on social media? Without a doubt! Is that keeping me from spending time with my saviour? Of course. There are only 24 hours in a day, and every moment I spend on social media is a minute I could be spending serving Him. Does this mean I will spend those 3 hours in devotion, or in prayer? Not necessarily. What I will do is spend that time on things that matter. I will focus on the work in front of me. I will spend some time in worship every day. I will be able to meditate. I can make some decisions I have been "too busy" to think about. I will clean my room. I will fully connect with those around me. Most of all I will not be caught up in the drama. I will not be influenced by others on the internet. I will not be worried how people perceive the post I just wrote, because I won't be posting anything. I will not be focused on how many likes a photo has. I will live life as it is meant to be, not under the criticism of others.
     
  Do I expect this to be easy? Not a chance. But then again was sending your one and only son to die for all of mankind easy? Was obeying your father even though you knew you would suffer easy? If God could send his son to die for us and Jesus was willing to accept our suffering I am sure I can make it without social media for a few weeks. I'll let you know how it goes after Easter :)

Until Easter,
Britt

DISCLAIMER:   Before I have people getting mad at me, or feel I am judging them because they're lenten abstinence is insufficient I just want to say I am not judging anyone. I do not think I am better because I choose to pursue a social media ban as compared to the person giving up chocolate. For some people that can lead to healthier eating, more energy and an overall better lifestyle. They may suffer more giving up something they enjoy eating than I will with social media. It also isn't entirely about struggling, it is about observing the period leading up to Easter. There is nothing to say one is better than the other. I am making this choice for me, everyone else will make the choice they feel best about.

365 Gratitude: I'm Sorry

My sincerest apologies to all you dedicated readers (or those of you who stumble on my blog from time to time). I have forgotten to record my gratitude things. I will list just a few of the things that have made me happy recently and then get back on track this week!

1) The Olympics
2) Winning Womens Curling Gold
3)Winning Mens Curling Gold
4) Winning Womens Hockey Gold
5) Finally finishing my delivery systems paper
6)The safety of Canadian Bobsledders
7)The Warm Temperatures Today
8) 10 Hours of Work on Valentines Day and 7 the following day
9) Alone Time to Watch Harry Potter and Refuel
10) A Great Province/Country to Live In!

I promise I will do better this week. Please forgive me.

-Britt

365 Gratitude- Installment 4

This week was a little crazy, and not going to lie somedays it was hard to find something to be grateful for, or sometimes I wouldn't think of it until the end of the day. Never fear, I managed to find at least one each day :)

February 1, 2014- JOEL PLASKETT! I know technically this started the night before, but it was too good not to be grateful for. I love Joel Plaskett, and what's more he played a lot from his Ashtray Rock soundtrack. It was actually the best concert I have ever been to. And I went with someone really cool :)

February 2, 2014- Winterfest! This was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. there were giant snow slides, a snow maze, animals, dog sled races and more. I had to volunteer at a few events for class and this one was pretty great (although a little cold and chaotic).

February 3, 2014- Class. After the strike it was pretty great to be back in class again. Although this euphoria quickly wore off with the amount of strike talk and work piled on.

February 4, 2014-Yoga. It's free, active and fun. All I need to be happy and relaxed. Although I also realized I was a little too tight which stressed me out, likely making me tighter...

February 5, 2014- Sleeping in. Rolled out of bed at 8:45 for a 9:30 class. Life is good.

February 6, 2014- TedxUNB. Pretty great speakers, good food, all that was needed to end a good/stressful/busy day.

February 7, 2014- Bed. I fell asleep at about 9:45 tonight. It was a Friday. I was a little tired.

February 8, 2013- Mountain Biking on City Trails. Weird eh? The snow and ice make it just like going through the woods. Also the view was breathtaking.

February 9, 2013- Warm, comfy sweaters. It's not really that cold out today, but work is freezing, so there is a nice warm sweater at our desk. And it's soft. That's all.                                                          

Ted X UNB

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to get to watch some TED talks in person at the (now) annual UNB Tedx.

The theme was igniting the spark and the individuals there tonight definitely did that and more. They kind of made me look at my life with a critical view and forced me to think a little more that million dollar question on my mind (and apparently everyone else's lately) "What do I want to be when I grow up?" More to come on that one. 

There were seven live speakers and two videos. 

Christy Clarke was first to take the stage and she talked about horses. I mean what better way to start off the night! She worked with her first rescue when she was in high school and adopted her first horse when she was only 17. She also talked about how horses listen to that gut feeling and how they stay in herds, protecting each other. If they sense something is wrong, they'll run, they won't stay and wait until they see danger because then it might possibly be too late. That was actually a really good point. How often do we sense something is wrong, maybe it isn't danger but it might be the wrong decision, and we stick with it until it blows up in our face? She also made the point that horses have more fun, which I really can't argue with, maybe we could all benefit from some "Horsing Around" (haha)

Greg Hemmings was up next. He is a filmmaker primarily based out of Saint John. Not going to lie, I wasn't expecting a whole lot when he stepped on stage. I was pleasantly surprised when he started talking about time spent in Venezuela working with a music program, and how that program eventually made it's way back to NB. More than that he talked about the six traits of success. I may have forgotten most of them (this is why I take detailed notes in class) but he definitely mentioned setting goals, setting more goals and telling others when you have achieved them. Something for thought...

After Greg Hemmings' talk we watched a TEDx Video from somewhere else in the world. It was an Italian guy and he was talking about listening. He told a story of going to an African community and teaching them how to "do agriculture." The Italians walked in with a wealth of knowledge, a ton of Italian seeds, and low and behold tomatoes, and other crops grew. Just when those tomatoes were about to be harvested a herd(?) of hippos came in and ate everything. The natives laughed at the Italians because they knew that was going to happen all along, but never bothered to tell them BECAUSE THEY NEVER ASKED! The entire point of this talk was to shut up and listen. Listen when someone asks you for help, don't just do!

Corey Poirier was the last speaker before intermission. He is a stand up comedian, radio personality, writer and so on. In his life he claims to have interviewed over 2500 of the worlds most "successful" people. Th kicker is he defines success not by the money they made, but the impact they had. It was a very well laid out 5 point presentation on how to get rid of the "weeds" in our life. The "technology" weed , the "bad weeds" weed, the "why me" weed, the "I can't" weed and one more that I seem to have forgotten. Near the end of his talk he told a story of his granddad. A man who dropped out of school in 3rd grade to help around the house, and eventually became a carpenter. He was asked out of the blue one day to build a scale replica of a space ship in fibreglass. He took the contract without even knowing how to build from fibreglass, other more experienced carpenters turned it down. It just goes to show education isn't everything!

Intermission was up next, it had free food. Even if the speakers were garbage (they weren't), that made it worth it. 

Gene Fowler's talk was a little crazy, a little heartbreaking and a lot awesome. He is someone who comes from a small town, works hard, gets lucky, gets unlucky, works hard again, gets lucky again, continues to work hard, loses that luck once more, loses everything he has known, and then finds meaning where he never expected it. Gene Fowler is a graphic design artist from "the Miramichi." He made it big, but then everything crashed and he had to lay off friends, family and community members. He burned more bridges than I hope I will ever have to in my life. Just when he lost it all in his company his wife left, then within 2 weeks his father died. How does one overcome that loss? He ends his Tedx Talk about how life is about quality not quantity. It's something we have all heard for years, but never has it been more real than when this guy was standing in front of us telling from his own experience. This one really shook me a little and made me really think about what's worth it. 

Jan Wong is a lady who spoke primarily of mental illness. She was writing for the Globe and Mail when her story was criticised. Not only was it criticised by her readers, but ended up being criticised by her editor as well (after it was approved by them before publication). She then was unable to write but her work would not accept her diagnosis as an illness. There was a long battle when they tried to fire her, because they had no grounds, and she "won." She ended up publishing a successful book on the matter, then the Globe came after her again. The moral of her story was keep fighting, don't give up and mental illness is just that, an illness.  

After that we watched another pre recorded video on emotional vulnerability. It was pretty good, nothing spectacular, it just reminded us that we are worth "it" and it is ok to show a little emotion from time to time. 

Dr. Levi Cosgrove was the second last speaker on the program. He is doing some super cool stuff with bionic limbs in the US. It's mindblowing to think that we can now make limbs for people that can not only support their bodyweight but can also work alongside a healthy limb. These bionic body parts can move when you think about moving them. The nerves are rewired and a computer is trained to read the nerves. How crazy is that? What will this mean for people born missing limbs, or even in the future those who are paralysed? Is there a future for them as well?

Dr. Ryan Hamilton closed off the night (at about 10:30 (aka past my bedtime)). Ryan Hamilton is a great speaker, with a sports background so he is a pretty interesting guy. Tonight he talked about courage, fear, and acceptance. He told us stories of cancer survivors who taught him lessons when he was supposed to be teaching them, truly incredible stuff. However the story that kind of resonated with me was of an old man. This guy worked everyday of his life, and once he retired walked every day to fill the time. Then one day he was attacked by a bear (no joke) and had some minor injuries, scratches, broken bones, and some bruises. More than that he was afraid to walk anymore. The point Dr. Hamilton made was sometimes things happen and sometimes they scare us. This guy started walking again once he found a big stick to carry with him. Maybe we need to do something to get over that fear, but we need to face it. Sometimes acceptance is the greatest form of courage. 

365 Days of Gratitude

January 24, 2013- Sun! It has been dark and dreary for the past few days (weeks, months) but today the sun came out! Everything just seems better when it's sunny, even though the wind chill is still around -20 it doesn't feel nearly as cold and my Vitamin D levels have returned to normal level meaning I am a much happier person! Plus it's Friday, what can't you be grateful for?

January 25, 2013- Snow! A little weird after I was so excited for sun yesterday I know, but the snow when we were walking downtown today was absolutely beautiful! It made everything feel like Christmas again, all that was needed was the lights.

January 26, 2013-Ice Cream Sundaes! Meal hall had Sundae Sunday and it was pretty perfect. especially after not really wanting good ice cream for a while now.

My sundae, complete with chocolate peanut
butter ice cream and lots of cherries

January 27, 2013- Talking! AUNBT and UNB Administration have finally decided to start talking again!! This is great news and hopefully we will be back in class before long.

Never have I been more excited with the prospect
of going to class

January 28, 2013- Snow Games! It's Tibbits week this week, and today we had floor wars, aka we got to play outside in the snow! It was so much fun! I miss the days where you just kind of roll around in the snow not really caring about much like we did when we were younger, or the times spent building an imaginary snow fort and "hiding" in it!

January 29, 2013- A Beautiful Campus! UNB may be on strike right now, but it is still the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Looking around reminds me part of the reason why I came here!

The sunset over campus. I love the old
brick and how clear the sky is!

January 30, 2013- Coffee! Some days you need a little coffee to make it through. Today was one of those days, working at 5:45 kills my sleep schedule, but thankfully after a cup of coffee I can make it through my morning shift somewhat alive. Today we also walked downtown, and I got so much work done at a coffee shop. Sometimes distractions are great for focusing. 

January 31, 2013- Skating! The City of Fredericton has skating rinks all over town! I went to Odell Park today and had so much fun! The rink may not be in the best of shape but it was a blast. I'm starting to become more comfortable on the ice in my skates again, after skating very rarely over the past three or four years, and am a lot more confident than I was earlier this week!

Odell Park's rink. It was rough and had a weird slope
but it was possibly the most fun I have ever had on ice!

365 Days of Gratitude

I realize I have been slacking in terms of my 365 gratitude posts, but I have been keeping up to date with them (not always with photos because my phone is having battery issues). Here they are:

January 5- Cars and Open Road. A little broad I know, but  I love driving/ being a passenger. I don't like sitting still for long periods of time, but it isn't quite as bad when you're moving while sitting still. I was lucky enough to drive back to Fredericton with a friend, which is so much better than taking the bus (not that all my stuff would have fit on a bus anyway).

January 6- Professors. I was more than a little stressed out for a few of my classes today, especially since I had just changed my major from BSc Kin to BRSS ( a minor change, but a change none the less) and wa going to be taking classes unlike I have taken before, but it turns out I have awesome profs this semester and the courses I was most worried about have quickly become my favorites.

January 7- Early Morning Devotions and Tea. I sometimes like early mornings, and starting them off with readings, tea, a workout and a shower is the best!!

January 8- Salt. The sidewalks are pure ice. The salt is the only thing that makes it possible to get to class in one piece.

January 9- Early Morning Quiet. Every morning I worked this week I walked down and nobody was there to open the door. Apparently 5:45 really means 5:50, but today instead of getting angry, I decided I was going to take a moment and appreciate the silence around me, knowing the campus would soon be alive with the hustle and bustle of another day.

January 10- Hockey Games. I love hockey games, and I love that UNB gives us free admission!

January 11- Crazy Friends for Crazy Adventures on the Ice. It was a little rainy and slippery beyond belief, but we decided to go to the mall anyway! It was a fun afternoon, sliding down the hill as we were trying to go up, falling on our butts and getting soaked, but we made it (and safely cabbed back on the not icy roads)

January 12- A Good Book and a London Fog. Nelson Mandela is a pretty cool guy, with a pretty cool book. What makes it even better is the London Fog from Second Cup.

January 13- Trading Shifts. I was supposed to work every Monday morning for two hours, now I am working every Tuesday night for 3 hours. I am satisfied.

January 14- The Right to Strike. It sucks that our profs are going on strike, but  it is great that we live in a country where we can protest for the things we believe we are owed.

January 15- Cute Children. I taught Le Petit  tennis today, aka tennis for 3-5 year olds, they're adorable.

January 16- Thriving Schools. I was volunteering at an elementary school with 44 students and 8 staff members. They have an artist in residence

January 17- Community Pride. Tonight was elementary school night at the VREDS hockey game, and the game was SOLD OUT! It was crazy. And a great game to boot!

January 18- Walking. No cabs for this girl. Walking all the way, even after the movies :)

January 19- Being Productive. Sat at 2 coffee shops, finished 2 papers, life is good.

January 20-Kin Kids. They're adorable. I also really got to know some of them pretty good today which as nice.

January 21- A Job. Even though sometimes I hate working, like today when it was 6 hours straight it is great to have a source of income other than my student loan.

January 22- Curling. I love curling. Even though I had five games in six days and my legs are hating on me it's still great.

January 23- Sunrise. Makes getting up for work with it to see the sunrise on the way back up the hill.

365 Days of Gratitude

There are 365 days in a year. 52 weeks. 12 months. 8760 hours. 525600 minutes. 31 536 000 seconds. All too often we waste those precious minutes, seconds, hours worrying or being angry when we could be practicing gratitude. I saw a video the other day on a cool photo project that was done and decided this year I will take photos similar to this project and post weekly (more or less) updates on here.

January 1st- A New Year, A New Beginning. 2013 was a great year by every stretch of the imagination. I had the job of a lifetime (which hopefully will be a possibility again this year), made some big decisions and made some great friends and had memorable experiences. That being said I also made mistakes, I learned from them and know 2014 will be a chance to continue to make mistakes, continue to learn and to make new memories and new trails. We rang in the new year at a family friends house, then came home and watched the ball drop! Even though I wasn't in the city with friends it was great to see family and spend some time with them!

Watching the ball drop has become a tradition for our whole family
 now, despite the fact it's an hour later than our New Year.

January 2nd- My Dogs. Cliché I know, but these two are the loves of my life and I miss them like crazy when I am away (so about 11 months of the year). They each have their own unique personalities. The brown weird coloured one (Hunter) is a dog in every sense of the word. He chews on things. He jumps. He gets into absoutely everything. Just as you're about to get mad at him he looks at you with his cute little eyes and his furry little face and your heart melts, then he makes it all worse by jumping up and cuddling while watching TV, or waking you up in the morning with cute little puppy kisses. The black one (Rockey) is older, he just wants to be loved, he will worm his way under your hand and all of a sudden you are patting him. This morning, when they were left alone for a few minutes Hunter started yapping   and Rockey ran upstairs, cuddled up beside me in my bed and took a nap.  They're the cutest.

Tim Hortons cups are all his latest favorite chew toys

Just look at that face... he sucks you in

January 3rd- A Warm House. Another cliché I know, but today was a day I was ever so grateful for a roof over my head and heat. It was a blizzard outside, blowing snow, minus 11 and win gusts up to 70 kph. Craziness. I feel for anyone who is homeless during these cold months and pray they find shelter somewhere warm.

January 4th- Sun. After a few days of clouds and snow the sun makes everything seem better. It is also really pretty on the large amount of snow we have on the ground. Everytime I see a super sunny day all I want to do is be outside. Too bad it's still -15 before windchill, just going to have to enjoy that sunshine through the window today

The view from my bedroom, sun and beautiful
snow what more could I want

Well that's about it for now, I'll post some more in a few days :) If you're interested here is the original video that inspired this project:

http://www.upworthy.com/you-take-zillions-of-photos-with-your-cellphone-why-not-try-something-new-with-them?c=ufb1


Until next time,
Britt