+1 :mad: 
:smack:
On the other hand, this remark doesn’t really have the vibe of Lenten patience and penitence, no?
Lunch, i.e., no food or drink other than water from breakfast to sundown.
The Pope gave up being the Pope for Lent. You guys are going to have to step up your games.
Very true. I get tired of the religion-bashing on the Dope. We aren’t trying to convert the heathen atheist 
so I’d like them to try to stop bashing us. It seems like we’re one of the few groups its open season on. However, that was uncharitable.
StG
Let’s dial back on the anger and stop the name-calling.
I decided to give up sweets. I’m sweet enough! 
I actually haven’t given up anything in the last few years, instead resolving to be more prayerful or dial back on the swearing. But that isn’t tangible enough apparently because it never works. So I am giving up candy and desserts in a real effort toward self-denial, so that I will truly feel more cleansed, purified and ready at Easter.
My husband and I for the last few years have been going to daily Mass, but in the last several months we’ve gotten too busy and it fell by the wayside. I miss it so much! It’s such a wonderful way to start the day. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a great new Lenten habit, which might become permanent!
I’m not religious, but I have observed Lent before. I think it’s a great idea to make a positive change in your life for a limited time…anyone can do that, right?
If I were going to do it this year, I’d have to give up venting about work. Every lunchtime and evening I blast my husband with all the work stuff that’s pissed me off. I’m just not sure I can give that up!
My old parish used to have daily Mass in the evening 3 days a week. After work I’d go to the barn and feed my horse, then go to Mass. My current parish has 2 daily Masses in the morning, but none in the evening for working folks.
Idle Thoughts, Boyo Jim - Apologies.
StG
Breathing
Wow, I just checked Facebook for the first time since Ash Wednesday. (Sundays are exempt, remember?) Only one thing I wish I had seen two days ago, the rest was pretty much junk. Since I am not posting on my wall I am not getting comments that I have to respond to etc etc. To keep myself from checking without meaning to I logged out on my phone so I have to make a conscious effort to actually check FB from there.
Less distractions indeed, I actually have spent more time reading some pretty amazing poetry. (I love poetry just never take time to read it.) And according to my son’s chart we have saved 9 dollars on pop to give to the food bank.
Why give up anything? It’s meaningless to do so if you’re gonna start right back up again after some mythical deadline.
If you’re gonna give it up, give it up, and don’t wait on some mythological calendar to tell you when to do it.
With all due respect Clothahump, it’s important to those of us who do it. For me I don’t intend to permanently give up meat, but I do it, as I said upthread, as a spiritual exercise. When I deny myself something I like so much it reminds me of the sacrifice that Christ made for us all. And I do it now because as a Christian I’m getting ready for Easter. To us it’s not “mythological”.
So please, try to show the same respect you would like for activities you do that others may find meaningless.
As Sam the Eagle said, “I try to always have the greatest respect for others’ crackpot beliefs.” 
I don’t usually give up bad things for Lent. Facebook itself isn’t bad, but it’s a distraction that I can find myself paying undue attention to until it stops being fun. It can interfere with my life and my focus on things I like more and ought to be more involved in, namely my children but also things like reading and cooking, which I enjoy more. Lent is giving me the space to break the habit and acknowledge the more valuable activities.
After the discipline of Lent I usually find it’s easier to be mindful about distraction and more grateful for my blessings.
Hope.
I am giving up nothing for Lent.
Sky diving and cottage cheese.
Sleeping in. I regularly struggle with getting out of bed in the morning, especially this time of year, when the bed is nice and toasty, and it’s cold outside. It’s way too easy for my half-asleep self to hit “snooze”, or rationalize that I can get away with sleeping for another half-hour. While I don’t have a set-in-stone time that I need to be at work, it does lead to me getting to the office later than I’d like, and it also means I sometimes sleep through most of the morning on weekends.
So, I’ve promised myself that I’ll get up no later than 7 a.m. on work days, and 9 a.m. on weekends (if I don’t have something which requires me to get up earlier).
6 days in, and it’s worked so far. 
I’m hoping that, by the end of Lent, it’ll be a habit which I can follow (even if I do sleep in from time to time).
I’ve got quite a few atheist friends and colleagues who are giving up various things for the period of Lent - for a variety of their own reasons, including:
To ‘reboot’ themselves from a recognised over-indulgence
To prove they can do it
To set aside normally-wasted funds for some good cause (or for their own savings)
To achieve a change of focus
To improve their health, lose weight…
etc.
Sure, they don’t need to tie it to a religious season they don’t believe in, but I don’t think that’s really very different to joining in with the trappings of other socially-entrenched religious festivals such as Christmas, etc.
This doesn’t apply to me, but I know someone who gave up honking his horn at idiots for Lent. It was quite a sacrifice for him.