Pancake Day!

It's that wonderful time of year again. The one and only time that I ever eat pancakes. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Yum. But for many, Shrove Tuesday also marks the start of Lent - a chance to give something up for 40 days and truly test your willpower.

I love pancakes.

I don't know why I only eat them at this time of year. They are a perfectly acceptable thing to eat at any time of year, but people just don't seem to do it.

Although, I do like that for one day everyone can just go pancake crazy, cooking up a stack to get through the day.

I've just had pancakes for breakfast and they were scrummy. For dinner I plan to have savory pancakes - baked in the oven with tomatoes, chickpeas and cheese.

Of course, you can never go wrong with the classic lemon and sugar pancake. I personally like one that's smothered in butter, sometimes with a little bit of Marmite!

Understandably, that's not for everyone.

Whilst the pancake making is delicious and fun, this day marks the start of the 40 or so day stretch before Easter, which indicates the start of Lent.

The idea behind Lent is that you give something up that you usually can't live without, something that will challenge you, for the same amount of days that Jesus spent in the desert.

I have given up chocolate in the past, and caffeine (which was one of the hardest things to do - tea practically runs through my veins.) My mum gave up dairy for Lent a couple of years ago and has been vegan ever since!

It doesn't have to be a long-term change, but six weeks without something you find hard to live without, whether it be tea, dairy or even social media, it's all about the willpower.

This year, I was finding it hard to think of something physical to give up. I considered jumping back on the caffeine-free train, but I rely so heavily on tea whilst I study that I don't think now would be the best time to do it. Plus, it's been done before.

I was thinking and thinking, and couldn't come up with any ideas which was so annoying.

Then it hit me.

Recently, I've gotten into the habit of saying 'it's so annoying' at pretty much everything, even when it's not that annoying.

It's raining outside? So annoying. My feet are cold? So annoying. I've got to go to uni today! So annoying!

What I've realised is that calling everything annoying makes me just that little bit too negative.

I don't like to see the bad in things, but pointing out how annoying everything is isn't a good mindset to be in. It's not even that I think these things are actually annoying, it's just a default phrase that falls out of my mouth when I describe something.

I tend to stress very quickly, and have decided that to make my life easier I could really do without pointing out the negative in things.

Though this may not be a physical thing to give up, it's still a challenge to stop yourself from physically performing habits that have become part of your everyday.

Rolling your eyes, swearing or even saying 'like' between every other word - they're all habits that could be given up.

I will try not to default to pointing out the 'annoying-ness' in everything this year.

And I will try to eat more pancakes.

What will you do?