On giving up things for Lent.

Do you think maybe it's backwards to try to think "hmm, what can I give up for Lent?  Something that I like, something that's a sacrifice, hmm..."

Do you think maybe it might be better to think first "What particular virtue do I want to develop, or what bad habit or vice do I want to eliminate?  How could I fulfill my vocation better?" ... 

... and then, having answered that question, to consider what sacrifice would actually serve that goal?  I mean, maybe chocolate is really hard to give up, but maybe it's not a chocolate-free Lent that would best help you grow in holiness.  Unless you have a disordered attachment to sweets in particular, and you think chocolate is actually getting between you and God, and that's what you're hoping to work on.

Or is that just me being overly analytical?

My husband gives up chocolate every year (I swear I am not using this post to pick on him).  He says that it's a good thing to give up for him because when it's not Lent he eats chocolate every day, sometimes several times a day, and it is something that daily reminds him that he's choosing to do something different for Lent.  And he says every time he has to think, "mmm chocolate---oh yeah, I can't have any," it reminds him to be thankful for all the good things he has.

This is not my approach, though I am careful to say I am not saying that his approach is wrong.  I have up till now mostly tried just to think of "a good thing" to give up... but I always have to laugh at myself because there are always things that it occurs to me would be truly sacrificial to give up, and I never do give them up because I'm honestly afraid to do without them!  Which is perhaps a pretty strong sign of a disordered attachment.  Exhibit A:  coffee.   (I could muster the nerve to do it, but only if I started weaning myself off it in December, and who thinks of Lent during Christmas?).  Exhibit B:  hot water in my morning shower.  (This is MINNESOTA, people.)  

What do you think?  How should people select their Lenten sacrifice?  Should you give up something that's literally bad for you, like tobacco?  Should you pare yourself of a luxury, like chocolate?  Should you give up an "ordinary thing" to cause yourself some suffering (however minor), like the hot showers?   Should the thing be carefully selected to counter some vice you keep falling into?  What's your philosophy?

Comments

[Margaret in Minnesota]

Well, I gave up putting cream in my coffee and this is why.

I don't like black coffee. However, I don't me when I don't have ANY coffee even less.

And so I've gone this route as a reminder that each morning of Lent is different, somehow. I have the means to deny myself--in a little way, certainly--with every sip.

I think you'd agree that it's in winning the little battles that we learn to win the big ones.

[CJ]

One year in Chicago I gave up Exhibits A and B. I was awfully glad when it was Easter morning!

[mrsdarwin]

I realized that my days were so disordered that I wasn't getting anything done, so I gave up some sleep and started getting up when my husband's alarm goes off. On the growth-in-holiness side, I'm using that early time to say Morning prayer.

Unfortunately, I find that I have a tendency to say, "Oh, since I'm getting up early for Lent, I can have this piece of candy" or what have you. Which is why the strongly physical aspect of giving up a food item has appealed to me in past years. Last year I gave up sugar for Lent, and found it a very difficult, but rewarding sacrifice.