Every year for Lent, I give something up. I'm not Catholic, but I like the idea of removing something (potentially) negative from my life for over a month. Usually, my sacrifices lead to better habits in the long run. Aside from the religious aspects of Lent (remembering Jesus' temptation from the Devil for forty days and nights in the wilderness), I like to think of Lent as a time to make
positive changes for myself.
This all started my junior year of college when my roommate Liz and I decided to give up fast food for Lent. After our forty days, this led to us only eating fast food once a month, which quickly led to a frantic dash to Wendy's on the first day of every month. We tried.
One year, I gave up celebrity gossip, which was much harder than I anticipated. It also didn't help that Anna Nicole Smith decided to die a few days before Lent started. The next year, I gave up online celebrity gossip, which was really just a good excuse to remove perezhilton.com from my life. I've since stopped reading his website. I also no longer buy People or USWeekly magazines, but I read my roommate's copies when she's done with them. That doesn't count.
One year I tried to give up Facebook (HA) and settled on checking it once a week (HA) which turned into once a day which has since turned into my nightly unwind ritual. Whatever did we do before Facebook? Last year, I gave up being negative and gossipy about an acquaintance of mine, which was my most successful "giving up" of all time. She and I now have a comfortable friendship.
This year, I'm giving up eating out at restaurants. This includes lunch, dinner, fast food, happy hour, and going out for drinks.* In college, I started a horrible tradition of eating out 2-3 nights a week, which turned into 3-5 nights a week after I graduated. My first year of teaching, I ate out nearly every night. Obviously, this has led to an unhealthy diet, a dwindling bank account, and a lack of dish-washing skills. I'll be forced to cook -- or at least to drive to my parents' house and plop myself down at their dining table. I'll be saving money, eating healthier, and learning a life skill or two. The crockpot is waiting on the counter and I went out for Italian last night (and will be going out for lunch tomorrow...and happy hour on Tuesday...have to get it out of my system!).
__________________________________
*Unfortunately I have to break my "giving up" on two occasions. I'm going to Portland this weekend with my mom and to Vegas in March to visit a friend. These were pre-arranged trips, before I made the decision. So they don't count. So there.
