Yom Kippur Fasting

I used to be Jewish (since it is a religion that you can enter and exit at onces will, and not a nationality or ethnicity as others may think) when I was younger. I went to Jewish school and all the stuff with it. Some traditions were good, others not so much. As I became a non-believer, as I am today, I still continued to do one thing - fast during Yom Kippur. My motivation is different, however: I am testing my body to see if I am able to abstain from food or drink for 24 hours. (That includes water as well) This is a type of self check. If I am not sick and circumstantially able, I will do my best to fast.

This task is as much mental as it is physical. Throughout this week I will be thinking and reminding myself that on Friday, OCT 7th I will not eat anything after 6.30pm and abstain from ingesting anything in my body until about 6.50pm on Saturday. Times indicate the sunsets, which I feel is a good way of doing it. In previous times I would indulge myself into 8+ hours of World of Warcraft. Time flies when I played that game, so the task was relatively simple. Because I don't play that game anymore I will have to occupy myself with other things: I will try to sleep as much as i can, abstain from physical exercises and other energy related depletions. I will most likely read, meditate and reflect, and try to keep my mind off the food as much as possible. Perhaps I'll stumbleupon for hours :)

Why do I do this? It's is a kind of self check: am I able to go without food for 24 hours? Am I able to go without water for 24 hours? Am I mentally strong enough to abstain from such simple and important pleasure? This surely will make me appreciate foods and how simple we have it today with fridges and supermarkets. Or so I think :)