How to Give Up Something for Lent

The season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and lasts for 40 days, until Easter Sunday. During the holy season of Lent, Christians traditionally give up or abstain from something during the 40 day period. Read on to learn how to decide what to give up for Lent.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Patience
• Calendar

1. Give up something reasonable. Don’t attempt to give up something that you need for every day life, like your car or your debit card. You will never succeed in abstaining for the entire 40 days if you set yourself up for a near-impossible feat.

2. Don’t think it has to be about food. Many people choose to give up sweets, fatty foods, alcohol, etc. for Lent. That’s fine if you can really do without those things for 40 days. But over a 40-day period you may be surprised at how many times you’re tempted, especially if you go to social functions. If you know you will have a lot of social commitments during the Lenten season, you may want to try to give something besides food or alcohol.

3. Focus on the opposite of what you give up. Since Lent is really a time of reflection, it’s also a time to focus on the positive. For instance, if you choose to give up complaining, then you should focus on the things that you are grateful for.

4. If you cheat, try to get back on track. If you give up chocolate and then mistakenly eat some at a birthday party, that doesn’t mean you should just throw in the towel for the rest of the season. Just try to get back on track the next day.

Tips & Warnings

• Try to give up one or more of the following: excessive Internet surfing (limit yourself to a specified amount of time per day), gossiping, smoking, soda, needless spending, coffee and nagging.