Lent is right around the corner. I'm not Catholic, but there's something to be said for the personal challenge of giving something up for a month (or 40-ish days, whatever).
For the month of February, I decided to give up buying clothes. Why? I don't really buy a lot of clothes & I generally hate shopping, but I suddenly found myself buying random clothes I didn't need in December & January. At the end of January, I still wanted to buy more random clothes that I don't need.
But I want more sweatpants! And I think I need a new black cardigan!
Self-control is greatly under-rated in today's society. We are told to give in to our every desire & whim since, hey, we deserve it!
No, we don't. Do we really want our impulses to have that much control over our actions?
It's a good exercise in self-control, commitment, & perseverance to have the goal of "fasting" for a period of time. For me, it's clothes for the month of February.
We Lutherans also observe Lent, although I guess we don't mandate that members give up something. I love the Lenten season - one of my favorite in the church year. Usually for Lent I like to do something like try to refrain from swearing (this is a BIG one for me, sadly). I do really well... but then my swearing habit always sneaks back up (hey, I'm human)... so this year I'll once again be trying to kick the bad-words. :) Good luck with the clothes!
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