# Giving anything up for Lent? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 25, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-anything-up-for-lent/286648 "2005-01-25T22:02:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-anything-up-for-lent/286648/1 "2005-01-25T22:02:07Z")
Do tell, if so. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-anything-up-for-lent/286648/2 "2005-01-25T22:10:38Z")
Self-abnegation. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-anything-up-for-lent/286648/3 "2005-01-25T22:32:14Z")
Celebacy? Okay, I’m not Catholic. But I’d take it up if it would result in getting some mack from a befreckled mic-girl. Well, a man can dream, can’t he? Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-anything-up-for-lent/286648/4 "2005-01-25T22:54:15Z")
I’m thinking of giving up beer. I’ll be giving up something I enjoy, but I’ll still be able to drink at social functions, so it’s not as harsh as completely giving up booze. ---
**Author:** ![trupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@trupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trupa)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-anything-up-for-lent/286648/5 "2005-01-25T23:25:38Z")
Desert/sweets and french fries. Used to be desert and booze, but booze can be good for you. No, I’m not using my religion to go on a diet (OK, well, maybe a little…) :o But these are things that are a not insignificant sacrifice for me. The health effects are a fringe benefit. A trick I’ve found that makes lent particularly meaningfull is to offer a small prayer everytime you have a craving. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-anything-up-for-lent/286648/6 "2005-01-25T23:31:46Z")
I don’t observe Lent, but every year I give several items up for Lost. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-anything-up-for-lent/286648/7 "2005-01-25T23:52:37Z")
Instead of giving something up this year, I’m going to try to take up my prayer life again. I’d been devoting an hour a day to prayer, but I sort of fell out of it. I’ve lost my spiritual connection, I don’t know how. But I do know that there is a direct correlation between the effort I put into it and what I get out of it. And being lazy hasn’t made me feel any better. So for Lent I’m going to renew my spiritual commitment. StG ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-anything-up-for-lent/286648/8 "2005-01-25T23:58:59Z")
Does giving up religion count? ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-anything-up-for-lent/286648/9 "2005-01-26T00:38:12Z")
what about giving up lent for lent? or would that cause some form of paradox… ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-anything-up-for-lent/286648/10 "2005-01-26T00:39:41Z")
I should give up chocolate. That’d be a **real** sacrifice for me. But I’ve tried before and I feel even worse when I fail. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-anything-up-for-lent/286648/11 "2005-01-26T00:53:31Z")
I don’t give anything up for Lent. I just try (and usually fail) to get to mass every morning. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-anything-up-for-lent/286648/12 "2005-01-26T01:09:59Z")
> [@lno](#): > > Self-abnegation. I think for Lent I’ll finally stop reading your name as having [an i.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=203818) ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-anything-up-for-lent/286648/13 "2005-01-26T01:15:05Z")
I’m planning to give up smoking - but not to give it up as a “just for Lent” kind of thing. I need to quit anyway, especially since my dad has recently been informed that the cancer he had radiation treatments for two years ago is back. They’re doing surgery Thursday, and expect to take either half or all of his larynx. That’s got me fairly scared, and knowing I need to quit…well, part of me figures that if I give it up for Lent, I can give it up for good. I haven’t been attending Mass for a couple of years, so I’m also thinking about making the effort to find a church - either Catholic or Episcopalian - where I live now and getting involved again. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-anything-up-for-lent/286648/14 "2005-01-26T01:46:34Z")
Usually, junk food, but not by choice. My mother, who buys all the groceries, just stops buying that stuff during Lent. I kind of pity Dad though. I’m Catholic (though I barely identify with the religion anymore), but he isn’t. I’m living on my own now for eight months of the year, so I don’t really observe Lent myself. I will be giving up most of my frivolous spending (except for a little on food on those days I miss two meals due to classes), but that’s because I need to financially. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-anything-up-for-lent/286648/15 "2005-01-26T02:02:55Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > what about giving up lent for lent? > > or would that cause some form of paradox… Nope. Just infinite recursion. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-anything-up-for-lent/286648/16 "2005-01-26T07:35:30Z")
Drinking from public horse troughs. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-anything-up-for-lent/286648/17 "2005-01-26T09:49:17Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > Drinking from public horse troughs. Are there so many of those around that you often feel tempted? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-anything-up-for-lent/286648/18 "2005-01-26T10:29:23Z")
Generally, Lenten best practice is not to talk about what one is giving up, before, after or during. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-anything-up-for-lent/286648/19 "2005-01-26T15:41:12Z")
Yes. Complaining. Or at least I’m going to try to cut down. I’m going to start doing a daily rosary again, too. ---
**Author:** ![trupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@trupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trupa)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-anything-up-for-lent/286648/20 "2005-01-26T16:19:11Z")
> [@Sevastopol](#): > > Generally, Lenten best practice is not to talk about what one is giving up, before, after or during. Your’re quite right. I had thought about it, but decided that the relative anonymity of the Dope was enough cover. Besides, I think this thread can be a good exchange of ideas and points of reflection. For example, **StGermain** ’s post really hit home for me. My prayer life has been sucky to say the least over the past year, and I’ve hardly cracked open Scripture on my own for the longest time. I think I will try to follow his(?) example and make an effort to pray and read some psalms and maybe a chapter before bed, as well. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-anything-up-for-lent/286648.md?page=2)