I am not Catholic nor was I raised in a catholic family, but since I was 16 I have partaken in lent. Everyone knows what fat Tuesday is, the last day of Mardi Gras, and a very popular day for college students to live like there's no tomorrow. Lent starts on Ash Wednesday and lasts for the forty days until Easter. People have always asked me if you're not Catholic why give up anything; I have always seen lent as a good practice of self control, kind of like a new year's resolution, but much shorter and easier to follow through.
I usually like to look into the darker side of consumer behavior and believe in general people have no self control in the items they buy. As Adam Smith taught me, people will act in their own self interest.Take new years resolution's for example, people tend to resolve to change something they do not like about themselves and it is in there self interest to change it.The gym will empty out towards the end of January when it is in their self interest to do something better with their time. Generally people do what they want. Lent however, is a time when people give up something they love to test their self control. A contradiction to my typical beliefs on how human behavior works.
Thinking about what to give up for lent this year has made me remember some good and bad ideas I've had through the eight years I've observed it. If you too are struggling with ideas of what to give up hopefully reading through some of my failures and successes will give you inspiration.
The first year I thought a forty day fast from something I loved sounded like a good idea, I gave up soda which I actually am grateful for was because the habit stuck. The next year I became more adventurous and gave up something I adored; I gave up chocolate. The day lent started by boyfriend at the time had no idea I practiced lent(because I wasn't Catholic), and bought me a Hershey Sundae Pie. That pie sat in my freezer for the next five weeks until I could finally eat it.
Makeup was actually not as difficult to give up as I imagined it to be. Every morning instead of putting on mascara I would use an eyelash curler to make my eyes pop without also applying the black stuff. The best part of giving up makeup was the extra half hour of sleep I gained in the morning.
For such a plain tasting food, potatoes were WAY more difficult than I thought, and have the most amusing story to go with them.I remember waiting in line at the Bruger's Bagels in the Kent State Student Center starving and hoping the line would just move faster. The nice gentlemen behind the counter offered my friend, Lisa, and me a sample of a new bagel type they were offering. When I went to tell the man I thought it was delicious I caught the description of the bagel out of the corner of my eye...Potato. I immediately spit it out and started rubbing down my tongue with a napkin. By the time I got to place my order everyone sitting by Bruger's Bagels must have thought I was out of my damn mind.
I don't remember what I gave up the year I turned 20,but the year I was turning 21 I gave up alcohol. Genius, I know. The year after that sweets, and last year could have been swearing but I'm not sure.
In many of these anecdotes I betrayed Adam Smith's sense of self interest and controlled my inner urges. An economist may not be proud, but maybe the Pope would.
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