"Get that bottle opener ready to crack that beer! It's almost sundown" such was the conversation amongst my friends at the end of Yom Kippur. Yes, believe it or not, I used to celebrate Yom Kippur. For those of you who are not familiar with Yom Kippur, it is a Jewish High Holy Day (meaning it is very sacred). It is a day of fasting and atoning for your sins. By fasting, I mean absolutely no water and no food at all for a 24-hour period. For people from a Roman Catholic background, it's what Catholics would call a 'Black Fast' . It was a day of prayer and worship to God.
When I was young and single my roommate and I both belonged to the same religion, and we observed all of the Jewish Holy Days. We did not celebrate Easter or Christmas or any of the mainstream Christian days. I had an enjoyable life as a young, single woman. At the end of Yom Kippur, we would have our friends over, who were also fasting. We would have beer and pizza parties to break the fast. Being young we could get away with that. My body would not be so forgiving of me now if I were to fast for 24-hours and then eat pizza and drink beer. I would literally feel dead for 3 days after nowadays (I would feel as though I've just resurrected from the dead). I know, it's sound sacrilegious for me to refer to myself as resurrecting, but that's just me. I suppose I am sacrilegious these days to a certain extent. I respect other people's belief systems but I don't get involved in religious practices that much any more. Occasionally, I will enjoy a First Nations Sweatlodge, and smudging but that's the extent of it. I still consider myself a spiritual person, just not any one particular kind of spirituality.
So, what has this got to do with my physical training for the Breast Cancer Fundraiser? Not a damn thing! I just felt like reminiscing.
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