Monday, February 23rd 2026
2026 Goals Week 8 of 53
Lenten Focus Day #5

I wanted something that would move the needle in my life.

Some people fast from sugar.
I’m fasting from avoidance.

Same season. Different appetite.

Forty-Three Days of Dead Weight Excavation

I’m Catholic. During Lent we give something up for 40 days, echoing the biblical pattern of preparation and testing.

…though Ash Wednesday, February 18th through Thursday, April 2nd is 43 calendar days.

Sundays don’t count toward the official forty because Sunday is considered a celebration. I’ve never loved the Sunday exemption. It feels like a cheat day to me. So I prefer a clean run for the full 43 days.

Probably why I’m also a fan of the 75 Hard challenge.

But the point isn’t theatrics or performing for others. The point is bettering yourself while strengthening your faith.

Some people give up chocolate.
Others give up social media, gossip, negativity.

It’s personal.

I heard a creator say he and his wife are cutting back on coffee by switching to tea.

This year, I’m giving up overwhelm.

For 43 straight days I’m walking into my storage unit and dealing with what I postponed.

Ninety minutes minimum.
Every day.
Box by box.
Layer by layer.

Finally processing the post scam-demic purchases stacked in my “I’ll list it later” inventory.

Emptying past decisions sealed inside neatly labeled plastic bins.

Buying inventory to become a reseller is fun.
Actually, doing the reseller work of photos and listings… less fun.

Life has a way of interrupting the grind part, not the fun part. The sourcing trips happened. The listing sessions got postponed.

This isn’t decluttering.

This is excavation.

Every item processed: listed, tossed, or donated.
No items left untouched.
No bins reburied.

Forty-three days. No loopholes. The daily task of dragging my tush to the storage unit and actually doing the work.

Daily discipline dissolves overwhelm.

And yes, with 43 straight days of 90-minute sessions, I will eventually run out of items.

Of course I have more on my Lent to-do list.

I’m a Virgo sun, Taurus moon.

We have lists of our lists.

So far…

Ash Wednesday, Day #0:
The plan… was actually something else for my Lenten sacrifice. Then I woke up with this Operation Dead Weight idea. I went to the storage unit and made a 90-minute game plan.

Notice: I didn’t touch anything.

I peeked. I counted. I still avoided.

Thursday, Day #1:
Immediately wanted to close the door.

Nope.

Holy molies… where do I even start?

Decision made: all bins move to the left first. As they’re processed, they move to the right.

Simple system. No thinking.

Friday, Day #2:
Okay… better. A little progress. Slowly.

Nothing to brag about.

But progress.

Saturday, Day #3:
Still overwhelming.

But I kept on keepin’ on.

Ick.

Sunday, Day #4:
Flow state! Worked more than three hours.

Nice.

Also brought a few items back to Base Camp to process there because the weather guessers were predicting somewhere between 1″ and 99″ of snow, depending on which forecast you listened to.

Monday, Day #5:
Snow day.

Twenty inches of weirdly blue snow. It looked like it was sprayed with windshield washer fluid and was oddly heavy.

State of Emergency.

For once, Chicken Little was right.

Shoveled my vehicle out and took a quick trip to the storage unit just to knock the snow off its roof. The roads were empty. I even stopped a few times in the middle of the road to help move snow off the roof… made me giggle.

Got to the unit.

Yikes.

Twenty inches plus drifts covering the lot.

Turned around and headed back to Base Camp to write this and begin Day #5’s ninety minutes with a black Sharpie and no excuses.

Nothing glamorous this week… just the grind part of the grind.

And remember…
daily discipline dissolves overwhelm.

Enjoy your week!
-Kimberly