Tuesday, August 11, 2009

The Psychology of Fasting

Ramadhan is fast approaching again, and for those of us who were too lazy to puasa ganti awal-awal, now's the time to "pay up" before the next round starts.

Have forced myself to start fasting today, after a few false starts. Still have 8 days to go and Ramadhan starts next Saturday (22nd). Now, halfway through the day I'm starting to feel antsy. It's not as if I'm suffering... it's just that we're used to eating every so often that we crave the activity. I'm not even hungry! I had a late meal which qualifies as sahur. Don't expect me to wake up at 4.30 when I sleep at one la.. Don't ask why i sleep so late. My body clock is certifiably cuckoo.

Sigh.. why la we always wait until the very last moment to ganti puasa? It's not that difficult. It even gives you extra time to work because you won't have to worry about going out for lunch. We're just creatures of habit, aren't we? I think fasting is so much more a mental exercise than a physical one. Yes, we do get a bit tired after half a day without food, but it won't kill you.

Anyway, if it gets TOO bad and you fear for your life, then you'd have valid reason to break your fast and try again another day. But from experience (when I was a kid), it's mostly because we cannot tahan the mental strain of NOT doing something we're so used to doing. Heh. Even at this age it's kind of hard to fast outside of Ramadhan because we can always do it another day. :-p

Oh well, at the end of THIS day, at least, will be a sumptous feast awaiting me and my colleagues, so that will be my reward for being a good girl for another 6.5 hours. La la la...

No comments: