Lent ideas – start something

Lent begins today. What are your Lent ideas for 2020? Are you someone who normally gives something up for Lent? If so, let me ask you –

WHY?

Not to be argumentative or inflammatory in any way, but I’d love you to take a minute to scout around inside of yourself for a clear motivation for why you give something up for Lent. Follow on questions as you explore your own Lenten behaviour would be:

How do I decide WHAT to give up?

And what do I GAIN by giving something up?

It may be that you can answer these questions clearly and with conviction.

Traditionally Lent is a season in the Christian calendar of fasting and preparation for the events of Holy Week: the death and resurrection of Jesus. So if you have a Christian faith, it may be that for Lent, you give up a meal or a food type, and whenever you are tempted to eat that item, to turn those thoughts into prayer instead. Or you give up something that can serve as a distraction and spend that time with God instead. 

Equally, it may be that faith is not a motivator for you, but giving something up for Lent resonates as a discipline and a positive habit. 

Perhaps you give up a more expensive, luxury food, and give the money you save to someone for whom any food is a luxury. Maybe in the past you have given up alcohol, mainly for the health benefits. Or social media, to remind yourself of what mentally uncluttered free time and face-to-face communication is like (you detect a slight bias on my part there methinks).

But perhaps, there is no real reason. Now of course this is fine, we don’t always have to have a deep and profound motivation for all that we do. But we can easily drift along in life, adopting the same habits and same routines. We have given something up for Lent in the past, we tell ourselves abstractly, so I guess this year will be no different.

But as a life coach, I am always encouraging people to stop and ask WHY am I doing this? And what does it mean to be proactive and intentional about my choices, to make decisions in line with who I am at my best?

And so my Lent ideas for 2020 are not about giving something up but starting something new.

This is not rocket science of course. There is much in the media about good practices, acts of kindness, mindfulness and all the good habits and disciplines that help us to live as our best. There is much inspiration on the wonderful Action for Happiness website, a growing movement in simple acts that boost happiness and well being. 

This ties in well with anything that you have been procrastinating on of late….just an observation!

Going back to my original question of WHY you give something up. If faith has been a part of your life, but you had lost sight of the fact that Lent is originally a Christian practice, perhaps this could be an ideal time to reconnect with your faith. 

If you can honestly say that there is no major motivation for giving something up for Lent, it is just something that you drift into because it gets mentioned in the media, then this year could be the year that you intentionally mark Lent by taking up a new practice each day. 

Whatever your thoughts, be clear on WHY. And stay with me for some  to break out of old habits this year.