After the holidays have ended and your routine is back in full swing, the thought of Lent being right around the corner starts to haunt your mind. As any good Catholic knows, Fat Tuesday marks the day of no guilt donuts (or paczkis), the amounting guilt of not attending church regularly, and the struggle to give up something for Lent. The trick is to give up something that A) you won’t miss too much and B) is just enough of a sacrifice to appease your loving and nagging, religious mother.
In my experience, here are the things you might want to reconsider giving up this Lent season.
Alcohol
Lose some weight, become extremely focused on work and personal endeavors and don’t risk the chance of becoming too drunk on a Friday to forget to not eat meat. Sounds like a great idea right? Instead you turn into a full time DD for your friends, with your car forever smelling like alcohol and greasy food. Not to mention Jesus was obviously the original wine maker, turning it into water and all. How can you give up the main beverage Jesus promotes in the Bible?
Gluten, Dairy or Carbs
Jumpstart a diet, lead a healthier life and watch what you eat. Sounds like a great plan to stick to for 40 days right? Fast forward to a few weeks into Lent and your coworkers find you with your head in the office fridge munching on bread dipped in mac and cheese. While starting to eat healthier is a great goal, going cold turkey on a major food group you love is not the way to do it. Again I refer back to Jesus and his reference to being the bread of life. How can you give up Jesus for Lent? I believe that is completely contradictory to the whole idea of Lent.
Electronics
What a great idea, unplugging, creating more face-to-face interactions with people. This used to be a go-to for parental suggestions on what you give up for Lent. Now it’s just dangerous. What happens when its closing time at the bar, all your friends left and you can’t turn on your apps to call an Uber? Not to mention being completely secluded from most human interaction without the ability to be on Tinder, Facebook and Twitter. Oh and not to mention you’d probably lose your job if you can’t use a computer for 40 days. While Jesus never mentioned electronics specifically in the Bible, I’m sure he wouldn’t want you to give up the ability to search for a Bible quote whenever you might need it.
I’d love to hear from my fellow Lenten friends, what is something you gave up for 40 days that you now regret?
*To Note, as a semi-practicing Catholic who attended 12 years of Catholic schooling, I approve of this article.
