My daily Challenge For Lent

I love the season of Lent and how it reminds me to slow down and put my life into perspective. I often have trouble coming up with ideas of what “to give up” for the forty day period. Over the past several years, I’ve decided to put more thought into my Lenten promise; and the likelihood of me actually following through. I mean one year I actually tried to give up peanut butter and chocolate. What was I thinking??

Then there was the year I chose to give up social media. That didn’t work either. Although I thought I had plenty of willpower; forty days is a lot longer than you think.

Therefore I decided this time to keep it simple this year. I put much more thought into my choices and came up with the following:

1. Spend more time each day on my daily readings and in prayer. I signed up for two social media sites that would deliver daily Lent readings to my inbox. These are wonderful reminders and often offer different perspectives on the readings. One of the sites is USCCB.org and the other is UCATHOLIC.com
2. Meatless Friday– This one is pretty easy. I can have fish but usually end up eating veggies, pasta, or cheese pizza. I put a reminder in my phone so I don’t forget.
3. Intermittent Fasting– There are many different types of fasting. I decided to do the fast where you eat during an eight-hour window during the day and then fast for 15 hours. This is a good challenge for me since I love breakfast. I typically eat every morning at 6 am, so to hold out until 9 or 10 am is a quite a challenge.
4. No Peanut Butter– I truly am addicted to peanut butter so although it was nearly impossible for me to give up chocolate and peanut butter at the same time, giving up one is doable.
5. Do something nice for someone everyday. Start at home with your family and then expand to others throughout your day. It can be as simple as a compliment, a card, a gift, holding the door for someone, paying for someone’s meal, etc. The goal is to make someone’s day better.