Ash Wednesday

Wednesday, March 01/17

So here it is almost 9pm EST and I bet a lot of you were thinking I couldn't even meet the first day of my Lent activities :)

Well how wrong you are all!!!!

No fast food, and given I was running late this morning and could have really utilized that option but stayed true to my commitment.

My nice words were for the young lady working the gas bar who was on her first day, trying so hard, and making a tonne of mistakes.......but she was trying and nothing in my life was so important that those extra few minutes she took cost me anything.......I told her it does get better and I appreciated the smile she never lost while things weren't going her way.

Now the blog entry isn't going to be too over the top but rather just a reminder that in this crazy rat race we call society that it is so important to take a moment for yourself, to just reflect on something that made you feel good inside, to tell those close to you how much you love and appreciate them, and to just breathe.

My son gave me a hug as soon as I walked through the door when I got home. Told me he loved me and I was the worlds greatest dad!!

Now I'll admit he is a bit biased but that's ok in this case as we're all biased when it comes to our family and close friends.

I considered writing about my faith and how it has evolved over time into something that both brings me comfort and makes me take a moment to think about what my beliefs really encompass. I think given the day that I'll hold off on that one for now but do promise to visit the topic in the not too distant future.

As I sat through the sermon at Holy Redeemer tonight I thought of all the people who have made me the person I am today, in conjunction with my creator, and gave silent thanks to each of them for helping shape me. It is funny when you think about the people who have had some influence on you at one point or another and the lessons they imparted that can still be applied years later.

I'm grateful to all my teachers for seeing something in the quiet kid and encouraging me in my studies, the coaches I had in various sports who never let me give less than 100% and reminded me that practises weren't just for teaching me sport specific skill sets but also how to work as a team, even with kids I might not really like all that much, to communicate with others, to be disciplined in my approach to sports, school, and life, to my family for supporting my dreams, to my children for showing me what it means to love unconditionally, and to both my ex and C for showing me what it feels like to love and be loved.

Today is only day 1 of my 40+ day Lent adventure but so far it's looking pretty good to this old man.

My name is Marcus and while I'm not perfect, I am perfectly me.