Giving Verdi Up for Lent?

I had a voice lesson yesterday. I had expected to sound horrid because I have been so depressed and haven't been sleeping well. I was pleasantly surprised. I sounded like gangbusters up to a B (we decided to pass on the C) and we once again went through the dreaded page in the Amneris/Radames duet and two out of three sounded great and the third sounded good 'nuf if I had sounded like that in public; certainly no worse than some notes I've heard from Olga Borodinalately.

I told him I was worried that I was getting off course because I felt my voice had too much weight, particularly on the top. I said I never felt that I was straining (I feel more like I'm straining singing pages of "light" soprano parts with the choir)but that I often (e.g., in the Aida duet aforementioned) felt that I just didn't have the oomph to continue on. He told me that this means I'm singing correctly, that yes, it takes more energy, and that since I'm 60, it takes more time to recoup and if I'm tired and depressed it would be harder for me to sing up there than for a 40 year old (a 30 year old couldn't sing that rep to begin with, or shouldn't).

I told my teacher about my deep sadness over trying to get my partner into an assisted living facility, as well as all the stress this is causing me, and I said I just didn't have the heart to plan concerts or anything really other than my choir solos. Then I laughingly said maybe I should give up singing that rep for Lent and just focus on my sacred solos. I've got two that I might be singing at the church, plus "Erbarme Dich", which I'm working on as something to do with the violinist, and then if I want a bit of drama, there's always "Liber Scriptus" from the Verdi Requiem, which is no different from the other Verdi roles except that it only goes up to an A flat. That's an ideal piece for me. Unfortunately I have yet to find any venue where I can sing it. The choir director really doesn't like big dramatic singing, at least not in a church context, and it's not the sort of thing for a Saturday afternoon concert. In any event maybe taking a break from the big Verdi opera roles will take some of the stress off me right now. I told my teacher I'm always worried about losing my upper register and he said no, I won't if I continue to vocalize up there.

As for Lent, even though I'm not Christian I think observing it in some way has spiritual meaning (it certainly beats fasting and making myself sick - probably for an ensuing 72 hours - for Yom Kippur). My Lenten project this year is loving my partner as much as I can, devoting my attention to getting her into the right facility, and doing whatever I have to do with good grace, instead of with resentment.