Is anyone giving up / taking up anything for lent?

Hm...good question. I think I will try to give up something non-food related and do something proactively as well. Not sure what yet...

As a family, we give up going out to eat as our physical Lent offering. No coffee at Wawa, no Saturday nights out to eat after Mass, no quick pizza delivery. It's more of a sacrifice for me since I'm the cook! But at the end of Lent we make a donation from the money we saved, which makes it more tangible for the kids, I think.

One year I gave up coffee. My family begged me never to do that again!

I was thinking of giving up bread...i eat on average 2 slices a day either as toast or a sandwich, and it's the thing I fall back on when I can't think of anything to have for lunch, which is boring! But then I need to take a packed lunch to uni every day and a sandwich is the easiest thing. Hmm! It would definitely be a challenge, moreso than chocolate or alcohol because I don't drink and hardly ever eat chocolate now that I'm trying to lose weight

For Lent, I'm giving up self control, abstinence, & sobriety in addition to speaking to people I don't like.

And tofu....:devil:

Shouldn't be too difficult.

one year my sister gave up kiwi fruit... she was about 5. I don't know if it really counted because we lived in Minnesota and kiwi in march is not very abundant. :laugh:

For Lent, I'm giving up self control, abstinence, & sobriety in addition to speaking to people I don't like.

And tofu....:devil:

Shouldn't be too difficult.

one year my sister gave up kiwi fruit... she was about 5. I don't know if it really counted because we lived in Minnesota and kiwi in march is not very abundant. :laugh:

A wise girl!

Been that good, nothing left to give up......

I gave up TV for lent one year - that was hard! I think I am going to limit TV to maybe 3 hours a week. That way I do not sit every night and mindlessly watch whatever happens to be on.

I have given up lots of different thing also. Bread might be a good one for this year. Or maybe whipped cream.

I need to put some more serious thought into it... I'm not sure. I think it may be an activity this year instead of a food, but I don't know. I waste a lot of time on the computer, so maybe I could limit that somehow. I do need it for my job, so that's why it's hard. In the past I have given up pop, fried food, I tried to give up tv one year, added a more serious devotion time, and other things I can't remember.

One thought is to give up your time. Some ideas: pledging so much money to a charity for every mile walked during Lent; delivering a bag of groceries a week at your local food bank; volunteering to walk dogs at your local animal shelter, crocheting caps for children with cancer while watching TV. ... If you have a well-behaved dog, one thing that's very rewarding for all concerned is taking your dog to visit a nursing home. The elderly really react so well to a dog's affection.

I'm very tempted to give up either soda, chocolate or cereal. I think these things are what affect my diet the most.

For Lent a few years ago, I gave up guilt. Catholics are really good about feeling guilty for things that we shouldn't.

Ha! Good old Catholic guilt...it's like we're taught to be guilty from the day we're born! Good idea

For the past 10 years, it has been (and will be this year):

baked goods - that one is THE hardest
candy - wasn't always in the bunch, but when I gave up the baked goods, I would over-compensate with candy. That had to stop!
fast food - though I rarely eat it anymore - I did years ago - it's really not a big deal
another vice that I shall not mention :embarassed:

Never had a problem with breaking this and I actually look forward to this time of year - sort of a cleansing, which I always need.

i think giving up my lie in to get a morning workout is on the cards this year

I make it a personal rule to not only give up something, but to do more of something during Lent. I grew up very Catholic, so it's always been really important in my family to really explore the true meaning of Lent. This year, I'm giving up Starbucks (aka crack cocaine) and committing to attend Stations of the Cross at least twice, and commit to volunteering at least 5 times (I volunteer with an animal rescue organization called Austin Pets Alive! but I don't do it as much as I should).

Then of course the regular abstinence from meat on Fridays...I used to go really hardcore as a kid and there were no celebrations allowed during Lent (no birthday parties, no nothing--thanks to my super religious father) but as an adult, I've let go of that one just because life gets in the way of that. I'm not going to tell my 5 year old he can't go to a birthday party for a friend because it's Lent.

I like this... I was raised Catholic and still practice (kind of). I am very faithful, but with a young guy it's hard to get him to sit still and quietly during Mass (he's too young for their child care). Being in the "crying room" is awful, too. He doesn't cry through Mass, but he has a tendency to want to babble, grunt (which is his version of the dogs' barking), and make high-pitched shrieks. Our parish has lots of kids, in that there is a school attached to it, so there are lots of families with young kids, and people are understanding. However, I still feel awful, and as such we don't make it to Mass as often as we should.

Aaanyway, point being that because I don't really have anything food-wise to give up for Lent anymore (not counting the obligatory no meat on Fridays rule), and because I don't want to give up Facebook because it's a great way to keep up with people I don't see regularly (especially the mundane yet funny things that probably wouldn't be shared during a phone call or in an e-mail), I have to find something else.

So I like this. I can make it a point to go to Mass regularly, and I should go to Stations of the Cross. It's been forever since I did that (6 years, I think, when my husband went through RCIA leading up to Easter). I have also wanted to go to Eucharistic Adoration. I didn't want to sign up for a spot because my schedule is so funky that I can't to commit to a specific hour every week (or finding a sub if I can't be there), but it is always open for anyone to go. I have a lot of people to pray for and a lot of things to express my gratitude for through prayer.

As for the charity work thing, I am already doing a four-hour Spinning marathon on March 10th to raise money for a local summer camp for children with multiple disabilities :happy:

Edited to correct a sentence fragment.

I think I'm going to give up working unpaid overtime :frown: