40 days and 40 nights

Today marks my first observed lent.  A big part of my "Making the most of it" journey has been finding my faith and recognizing life for what it is - a daily gift filled with many blessings to go along with its many struggles.  I had always felt like something was missing from life, and the influence that realizing I needed this faith as a part of my every day was really a life-changing experience for me. Not in the "Hallelujah - I'm saved!" kind of way, but in the, "I really can handle this life - insert a very content sigh here" kind of way.

Back to lent...I've been struggling with my decision of what to give up for days.  What is "enough"? What is just silly?  What will I actually commit to??  UGH.  Where have I landed you ask? A daily yoga practice of at least 45 minutes.  As I took an objective look at how I'm living today, I realized that there really isn't anything I do in excess that would be a real "sacrifice" to give up.  I only drink alcohol on weekends (generally), I don't drink pop much ever, I really don't eat many sweets and I even have curbed my swearing considerably (from my informal facebook poll, these are the status quo during lent).  So, this led me to adding something to my life that would still require the one sacrifice I loathe making - giving up sleep - which I am going to have to do in order to practice every day.

The hubs did a great job of laying it out for me last night - "When you absolutely want nothing to do with getting up in the morning, and you remember why it is you made this commitment and get up anyway, that's what lent is about."  Forty days is a long time, but I think I can do it. What about you all - what are you giving up from/adding to your life this lent?  


P.S. Just for fun - here's an image I found via Google when I did a search of "what to give up for lent" - too funny!