Lent was always an interesting season growing up in a Catholic family. A 40 day period that begins with the ritual of going to church on a rando Wednesday night and having ashes smeared on your forehead in a shape that *sort of* resembles a cross and ends with Easter Sunday mass with way too much incense. So much incense that you’d pretend to have a runny nose right before so you had an excuse to cover your nostrils with a tissue. No? That was just me?
And if all of that wasn’t weird enough for you as a kid, try going vegetarian every Friday for the next 7 weeks. Of course, on top of all of that, there was arguably the oddest part of it all: giving up something you love for the next 40 days as recognition of how Jesus gave up everything for us when he died, at least that’s what we were all taught in CCD or Catholic school. As a young child, it was probably the closest thing to cruel torture we could have ever imagined. Nearly seven weeks of no candy, or no video games, or our favorite tv show. Madness. Especially when 40 days feels like forever to a 6-year-old. However, at the end of it all, our patience was rewarded when we woke up Easter morning to a colorful basket filled with the exact chocolates or sweets we had been deprived of for oh-so-long.
Now-a-days, come February or March when Lent rolls around, it seems like no big deal. That may be because we’re still giving up the same things we have been our whole lives. Giving up candy or sugary drinks was the perfect way for us to sympathize with Jesus’s sacrifice back when we were little, but what about now? How much candy do we really eat as adults? It can hardly even be considered a sacrifice when the thing we’re giving up is something we probably unknowingly go without for long periods of time anyway. So what are we, as young adults, supposed to give up now to get that true feeling that Lent is supposed to give us? It might seem difficult to come up with something, but here are a few suggestions to consider come this Wednesday:
Pizza
As college students, pizza is probably one of our favorite words. It’s our go-to for just about any occasion. Up late studying? Get a pizza. Grabbing food with friends after a night out? How ‘bout pizza. Need something to eat on a Friday during Lent when you can’t have meat? Plain pizza it is. Imagine having to be creative for once now about your meal choices. Giving up pizza could not only serve as quite the challenge, but it could also end up making you healthier, so long as what you’re replacing it with isn’t junk food.
Social Media
This one may be the hardest thing for anyone to give up. Try going a single day without checking your social media accounts. The thought alone probably gave you the chills. Now try picturing doing that 39 more times. It seems nearly impossible, doesn’t it? So maybe you don’t give up all of your social media accounts; just pick one. Take it from someone who gave up Facebook her freshman year of high school, it’s possible. Not easy, but possible. Think about all of the “like for a tbh” statuses I missed out on. Who knows, come the end of Lent, you may find yourself less reliant on social media. And wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing?
A Bad Habit
Lent doesn’t necessarily mean giving up something physical or material. Sometimes the best and the most rewarding things people give up for Lent are habits. From nail biting to something as difficult to quit as cigarette smoking, relinquishing a habit that affects you negatively in some way takes far more strength than merely pausing your pizza intake for a few weeks. Science says it only takes 27 days to break a habit, Lent could do that for you and then some.
Even if you’re not Catholic, challenging yourself to give up something you rely on or use so frequently is a great way to test your strength and commitment and teach you discipline. Though I believe in the true meaning behind why we give up things for Lent, I can really say that every year I come out of the season proud of myself for the small feat I accomplished. Then I celebrate by eating a shit ton of candy, just like I did when I was 6. Some things never change.
