Tackling Lent - Part 2

I love to read. I buy books and subscribe to magazines, download samples onto my Kindle, check books out of the library.

But I never make time to read them. Or at least not enough time, given the piles of reading material that taunt me from various locations in my house, and on my desk at work.

Lately, I've been noticing what I do instead. Watch TV. Go on Facebook. Play Words With Friends.

Not horrible habits, but habits that have intruded into my life more than they should have. More than I would like.

So, it's time to get things in check. Again, not being an all-or-nothing girl (see previous post), I don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. I like Facebook, television and Words With Friends, but it's time to restore the balance.

While I laud my friends who give those things up completely, I know that's not my long-term goal. So, why not make my short-term goal more in keeping with the lifestyle I want to have?

So, in addition to my fledgling scripture habit, I am going to nurture a reading time. Half an hour each day. More would be great, and I hope that's what will happen, but 30 minutes is my SMART goal - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely - in other words, something I can not only do, but sustain.

So far, I have finished one actual book (as opposed to a virtual book or a periodical) and cracked open a new one the same day I brought it home from the library, as well as beginning another book within a day of bringing it home from the bookstore. To do this, I have turned off the television for a bit and stepped away from electronic screens - and have felt no sense of loss at all. I am still keeping in touch, still watching Jeopardy and wading through my reading pile to boot.

This bodes well indeed.