I just hadn’t gone that long without it before. I usually had it at least twice a day…sometimes more. Almost always right before bed, that was a given. The 20^th day without it was the hardest by far, I had gotten past the “strong will part” and then into the “I miss it!!!” part. But the farther I went without it the less I missed it, and after 40 days without drinking soda, my 24 year old self was pretty much ready to completely break that habit.

Lent. The time of year every Catholic voluntarily gives something up from Ash Wednesday until Easter, symbolizing Jesus’ 40 days in the desert whilst being tempted by Satin. Now, I’ve been hit or miss as far as Lent goes in my life, for some reason I always end up thinking of it late and never think of a good one. There are times that I’ve meant to give something up and then forgotten all about it, and there’s other times where I give something up and realize that I never needed it in the first place. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out in the world that practice lent but don’t take it seriously. It would be like me saying I give up smoking for Lent (I don’t smoke.) Or Shaun saying that he is swearing off watching hockey (I really don’t think he could possibly name one player.)

The point is, Lent is supposed to be a time where you reflect on things that may be distracting you from the important things in life, and then give those up so that you can refocus yourself. The hope is that you’ll realize that there are many great ways to live your life, and that you don’t have to be stuck with one thing constantly done every day.

As I mentioned earlier, I never know what to give up for lent, so I did a little digging to find out what people usually end up giving up. Some of the popular ones include:

Coffee/Tea/Soda: As with my own example above, this is a popular one. For me, I was drinking about a six pack of soda every day when I was in college, and as I got older it started affecting my health in a pretty bad way. So I made the decision to give it up, and it really has done wonders for me. Nowadays I usually have about a soda or two a month maximum, and I drink a lot more water daily. Coffee is an extremely popular one with people, as many people usually grab that morning cup of coffee on their way into the office. That’s a rough one to give up because sometimes you’re just really that tired.

Alcohol: Now this one is an interesting one. I don’t drink often, In fact I might only have a single drink once or twice a month depending on what activities I’m doing, but for some people this is a big deal. The nightly glass of wine is big for some people, as is going out on the weekends and partying it up. The hardest part for the college age kid and slightly older about this Lent sacrifice is that St Patrick’s day falls right in the middle of it…that’s never a good thing for someone trying to give up alcohol.

Chocolate: Ah yes, just like Jesus fasting for 40 days, people will give up their love obsession with chocolate. I don’t eat that much candy or chocolate in my day to day life, so this wouldn’t really be a great thing to give up for me. I am much more of a salty over sweet type of person, so a much better alternative for people like me would be to give up:

Potato Chips/French Fries: Ouch. Now this one is cutting to my core. I love my salty foods. And I love my french fries. Giving up either of the previous two foods is a promise to yourself that you are stronger than those salty, tasty goods, and that you can live without them. That is, of course, assuming you keep your promise to yourself.

Television: Come on, the NCAA tournament is on during Lent… I can’t give up TV!! Which I guess is the point…but if ASU is in the tournament I especially am not giving it up. Sorry, I’ve got to draw the line somewhere. I don’t watch that much TV anyways, so it wouldn’t be like I’m giving up anything heavy enough. At least that’s my rationalization.

Not everyone practices lent, mostly because there are a lot of people who aren’t Catholic. But even if you’re not, it’s usually a good idea to take a step back in life and reevaluate your habits. A great motto in life is “anything in moderation,” but unless we look hard at habits, we might lose sight of how much is moderation.

As for me, what am I giving up? I’m making the ultimate sacrifice for myself. I’m going to give up my beloved and weekly trip to my favorite fast food restaurant Chipotle. This sounds a lot easier than it really is…as Chipotle is my go-to restaurant whenever I can’t figure out what to eat. This is gonna be rough folks, I’m already looking forward to Easter dinner…of Chipotle.