I'll admit, I've committed every one of the "seven deadly sins." Of course, not to the extreme that is depicted in films like "Seven," but after hearing about Lent for weeks, I decided to try to avoid these sins for seven days and keep track of my progress.
For college students, lust may seem like the most difficult sin to overcome. Italian poet Dante Alighieri labeled it as "excessive love of others" in his famous poem, "The Divine Comedy." But for me, it appears that excessive obsession with myself — pride — is the real trial. In fact, it's usually classified as the worst sin to commit. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, "Inordinate self-love is the cause of every sin." It's what caused Lucifer to be cast out of heaven and turned into Satan, which is fantastic news for me…
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Pride
I avoid obsessing over my mirror the first morning, but as I walk through lot 59, I'm distracted by my gloriously shiny reflection in the car windows.
Pride, I'm finding, would be my greatest challenge. My house is filled with mirrors; it's only natural that I utilize them.
The second day, I am delighted when another mirror was put up in my house. "Now I can finally look at myself again!" I say. My boyfriend laughs and points out my ridiculous comment.
That's when I realize I would have to give up this pride thing cold turkey. I'd have to be constantly aware of any mirrors looming ahead and resist the side-glance at myself as I walk by the large windows of the business building. It is going to be a long week.
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Gluttony
This sin is all about over-indulgencing and withholding from the needy. Give me five minutes of down time, and all I'm doing is eating. Saturday night with friends is a gluttonous hotspot. Alert-sirens fire off in my head when my friend says the words "chocolate-covered strawberries." After that, all virtue is out the door. Sure, I'd already eaten, but how could I say no? I started making deals with my conscience: "It's the weekend, I can make exceptions." So I dove in — and boy, was it worth it. "Tomorrow I will redeem myself," I think.
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Greed
On Sunday evening, I go to the kitchen to bake some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Oh, sweet deliciousness. "But," I remind myself, "don't overindulge."
Once my treat is cooled to warm-gooey perfection, my parents show up. "Sure!" I tell them when they ask for a taste. "Take some. Take half. I'll leave them out for you. Enjoy!"
But secretly, deep inside my mind, I'm hoping there are plenty of cookies left for my breakfast on Monday morning.
Hey, actions speak louder than words, right?
Does that count?
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Lust
I'm guessing most people scanned through the article to get to this point, especially the male readers.
Now, I'm a warm-blooded hormonal woman, but these days, especially in college, we have to control this one. I didn't think I'd have a problem with it, though we do have some great-looking lads at ASU. And I do have lustful thoughts for Clive Owen.
But alas, I do have a boyfriend, who happens to be out of the state. It obviously isn't a problem to control this sin.
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Sloth
Like most people, I find it difficult to wake up willing to go to class on a Friday morning. But, once Monday morning rolls around, I have no time to be lazy.
My friends agree this is not something I have a problem with, considering I have two jobs and a full-time class schedule. I basically kick this sin's ass.
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Envy
Alighieri describes this as "Love of one's own good perverted to a desire to deprive other men of theirs." Sure, I wish I had the wardrobe of Carrie Bradshaw, the brains of Natalie Portman and a voice like Jenny Lewis's. But this entire week was filled with my jealousy of time.
I barely have enough at the end of the day to get decent sleep. I envy my friends who have at least an hour of downtime a day. How do they do it? On Tuesday, one of my friends even said that it makes her feel better about her life when I tell her about all of the things I have to do each day. I laughed it off, but I was totally ready to pull a "Being John Malkovich" just to escape for a while.
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Wrath
My road rage is hard to control. The evil commuters going 55 mph on the US 60 only fuel the fire.
I'm usually a relaxed person, but cut me off on the freeway going 15 under the speed limit and it's on. "Seriously?!" I think, "Who dare slow me down on my epic journey of virtue and fulfillment?"
But before going on to tailgate the bastard or pass them with rage, I tell myself: "Don't be vengeful and risk crashing your car because some moron is going slower than everyone else on the freeway." Ah, I feel better already.
Can I save my mortal soul?
I see these "deadly sins" as decent guidelines for living a satisfying life. I am kinder, happier and I don't waste so much time looking in the mirror while picking out my outfit for the day. In fact, I think we should add a few sins to the list like whining, fashion faux pas and watching shows like "I Love New York." I've learned a lot from this experiment, but luckily for me, I can now go back to looking at my reflection in car windows and spoons.
