Lent. Hello, my old friend. It's traditionally the period of quiet reflection in the Christian faith, meant to reflect Jesus' journey through the desert of forty days and nights, but recently it's become associated with abstinence, penance, and general self-denial. However, much like January 1, there is an entire culture surrounding Lent of improvement and denial and cutting out the unnecessary. However, also in the same vein as the New Year's Resolutions, Lent causes most who attempt it to crash and burn in their attempts - diets are tossed aside, vices are re-taken, all those 'bad' parts of ourselves are welcomed back into our lives, willingly or unwillingly, and so we've rounded up seven of the best things that people try to cut out of their lives for Lent and who almost always fail in their attempts, having been all but doomed to fail from the very start...
7. Sleeping In
A lot of people consider improving their lives by waking up early on the weekends during Lent in order to improve their productivity, get back those hours they've been wasting away in the Land of Nod, and generally begin a new, infinitely stronger and more centred phase of their lives. These people should be stopped immediately, largely for their own sakes and partially for the rest of the late sleepers who do not wish to feel the painful pressure of being culturally obliged to get up bright and early in the morning when we don't have to. Sleeping in isn't only something to be treasured, it's something that makes no sense to sacrifice. Sure, you might get an extra hour or two, but it's not really worth it when you're likely to spend the hour sat watching infomercials for the real television programmes to switch on and cursing at the chirping birds and piercing sunlight. Besides, your body knows your needs better than you think you do, and you can guarantee you'll end up curling back around into sleep and turning off your alarm as soon as it goes off. Sleep is not an option, ladies and gentlemen, and your body and unconscious mind know you'll be much better off having those extra few hours than becoming a wild-eyed, sleep-deprived person who crashes for a two-hour nap later that afternoon and becomes the Grinch in the interim.
Lent. Hello, my old friend. It's traditionally the period of quiet reflection in the Christian faith, meant to reflect Jesus' journey through the desert of forty days and nights, but recently it's become associated with abstinence, penance, and general self-denial. However, much like January 1, there is an entire culture surrounding Lent of improvement and denial and cutting out the unnecessary. However, also in the same vein as the New Year's Resolutions, Lent causes most who attempt it to crash and burn in their attempts - diets are tossed aside, vices are re-taken, all those 'bad' parts of ourselves are welcomed back into our lives, willingly or unwillingly, and so we've rounded up seven of the best things that people try to cut out of their lives for Lent and who almost always fail in their attempts, having been all but doomed to fail from the very start... 