Lent Ideas – Giving Up and Beyond

 

Weird ideas:

Don’t eat the last bite of your food

Park at the very back of the parking lot

Put a popcorn kernel in your shoe every day

Don’t use your apps

Get to know your neighbors

Pray the Hail Mary and do an ab crunch for every single word

Stop complaining and/or being negative

Give up texting and call whoever you need to talk to

Don’t use utensils

Give away 10 shirts, 2 pairs of pants, and a pair of shoes

When you wake up, jump out of bed, kiss the floor, and learn humility

Wear the same 4 outfits for all of lent

Everyday do 20 (or 100) pushups and offer it up for someone who’s sick

Leave a post-it with a positive message on it wherever you go

Cut out all screen-time (phone, TV, computer) after dinner

Use your weekends to babysit for free

Don’t straighten or curl your hair

Sit and stand up straight – don’t slouch!

Every day take a picture of something or someone you’re grateful for and hang the pictures in your room

 

Creative ideas:

This year I’m giving up shoes as often as possible. I’ll still wear shoes if I’m doing a work project or if I have to fly on a plane. But I’m going to avoid going to places that require shoes. 

I’m addicted to caffeine so I gave up all drinks but water for Lent two years ago.

Last year I didn’t give up anything for Lent, just added more prayer life. This year I am going to add more prayer life and give up Facebook.

I gave up spoons and forks. I learned to use chopsticks. It was funny for my friends and made it easy to talk about Lent in a way that people were cool with. We laughed a lot.

I’ve heard of people giving up their beds for Lent. They slept on the floor or the couch.

I fasted for all of Lent one year. 1 meal a day really brings souls to Jesus, especially your own!

I’m going to treat my body as a temple of God during lent; everything I read, watch, listen to, eat, drink, do, say, etc., focusing on being a temple of God.

One year for Lent I wrote a letter each day. I made a list of 40 people who have touched my life in one way or another. Each day of Lent, I wrote a person on the list a letter of thanks for how they touched my life and I prayed for that person on that day….it was a WONDERFUL experience!!!

I tried improving on my spirit of giving.

This year, I’m giving up the radio in my car in order to focus more on the things that are around me that God created! I can’t wait so I’ve already started doing it!

One year I gave up my bed. I slept outside in a tent. And I live in Canada! So it was well below freezing! I even kept a blog on Myspace (that’s all there was at the time!) Another year I made a few shirts out of burlap, and wore one under my regular clothes for all of Lent. Both were hard, but really helped me those years.

This year, I’m giving up all sweets, (I work at a frozen yogurt shop) and am going to use the constant reminder to pray for one person in particular every day, I made a list/calendar via Facebook of friends that need/want prayer.

I have an issue with vanity, especially when I get ready in the morning. So I decided a couple years ago to just wear the first outfit I put on every morning. What I learned from that was how to get a source of self-esteem beyond my outfits.

I didn’t do this, but last year two of my friends gave up warm water for their showers. – Maria

This year I’m giving up having my phone with me during the day because I’m always checking my email throughout the day. My hope is that having moderation I can be more present to the people around me. I want them to see my deeper connection with God.

I want to listen more.

I have given up makeup in the past, and this year I am giving up meat!

Usually during Lent, on top of giving up something we love but don’t need, we say that any money that is found in the laundry, couches, and anywhere else was God’s money and we gave it to the poor. I remember one of the first years we did this, I found a $20 bill in a parking lot. 

Two years ago I went to adoration every day during Lent. I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t make it every day but I made it most of the time and it changed my life to get and be with Jesus that much, it was an awesome experience.

I know a girl who said she only listened to Christian music during last year’s Lent. She said it was hard at first, but soon loved the depth and meaning behind many Christian songs.

Getting more involved in the church….time & talent. More prayer as in…the rosary & Novenas really get into some SERIOUS PRAYER!! Getting help for my depression. Alongside giving up meat on Fridays. Focusing on being a better Christian in general, being more concerned & in tuned to God’s plan for me & my family as opposed to ‘our plans’ for our lives.

Getting to the 3rd floor using stairs not escalator/elevator.

I’ve adopted a priest in Chile…… I offer daily prayers and sacrifices for Father Juan Nunes!!!

I’ve never done it, but I’ve heard of people giving up the snooze button on their alarm clock. They said that it was harder than they thought, but it taught them a lot about discipline.

I didn’t do it for all of Lent, but for Holy Week last year I gave up my pillow. Honestly, at first it was fun, but it proved to be hard. But it made me realize how blessed I am to even have a bed.