Five Things to Give Up for Lent

On the eve of the Christian observance of Lent, many are spending this Fat Tuesday indulging on all the luxuries they plan on sacrificing during the 40 days before Easter Sunday. Tomorrow, Feb. 22 is Ash Wednesday, thus beginning the Lenten season. The faithful of various Christian denominations spend this time fasting or giving up some form of luxury for spiritual growth.

Popular items people give up are sweets, caffeine or television or vices such as swearing, lying or procrastination.

Here are some other resolutions you might consider this Lenten season:

1. Give up social media – It might be inconceivable to give up updating your status or tweeting your latest piece of news, but once upon a time there was no such thing as social media. A person today can spend hours plugged into social media, so what happens when you take an extended break from your Facebook account? Perhaps a lot more time to call your friends and family, pay a visit or write a letter (yes, people still do that!). You don't have to give up social media completely once the Lenten season is over, but abstaining from it for awhile could help you relieve your social media dependency.

2. Give up meat – Nutritionists say a palm-size piece of meat is all you really need to eat a day. For a generation raised on burgers and steaks, many tend to eat far more meat than the daily recommendation. Taking a break from your carnivore ways might be a real sacrifice, but it might help you learn to eat a more balanced daily diet in the future.

3. Write a letter a day to a different person each day – Rather giving up something, why not add something to your own life and to the people you care about? Write a letter each day to a friend or maybe someone you haven’t contacted in awhile and tell them what they mean to you, or to simply just say hello. A handwritten letter can brighten anyone’s day.

4. Paper or Plastic? How About Neither –You may consider eliminating a habit considered harmful to the environment. Start a more green routine such as using reusable water bottles instead of buying plastic water bottles, using reusable grocery bags or setting up a recycling bin. Doing so may help you become more aware of your environment and the things you to do that affect it.

5. Quiet Time – Our schedules always seem full and busy that adding just a few minutes of quiet time a day is a challenge. But squeezing in just a few minutes of meditation/prayer or time to just clear your thoughts each day can do wonders for your mental, spiritual and even physical well-being.