last day of...

A little window into my "history" with Lent (which begins tomorrow). Growing up I don't really ever remember giving anything up for Lent. I certainly don't remember getting ashes on my forehead on Ash Wednesday. Did we not do this as Presbyterians? Or did mom and I just not go to church on Ash Wednesday? I honestly haven't a clue.
All I know is that at some point I started thinking about giving something up for Lent. It never really made since to me to give up chocolate or sodas or something like that. I never really needed to give up swearing or something like that either. So about five years ago I decided that instead of giving something up only to go back to it 40 days later, I would let go of something that wasn't helping me live life to the fullest or I would adopt a new practice in an effort to improve my life in some way. One year it was yoga. Another year it was calling my family more regularly. This year I'm going back to something I did a few years ago.
I'm giving up working late and doing work email for hours when I get home each night. I will only spend 10-15 minutes on work email/work each night when I get home from training. After that length of time, I have to leave it until the next day. My hope is that this will help me get more sleep...which is something I really need. It will also be a good reminder to me of what's important. Not that work isn't important. It is. And I like to feel good about what I do. But it's not more important than my health or my time with family or friends.
So, at least for the season to come, today is my last day of...working late on work-related items. Letting go of that in order to let some other things in...I can feel the space opening up already.