How to improve your life with Lent

This is a collaborative post

Have you found yourself swapping Lent ideas with your friends, only to realise you don’t have one in mind? There’s always that one in the group putting everyone to shame with a laundry list of resolutions they’re already working on when February finishes, while the rest of us are still working on our New Year’s resolutions. 

It’s not arrogance, it’s simply not knowing where to start. The point of Lent is to give up bad habits, in order to improve yourself. If you’re looking for ideas, you’ve come to the right place. Read on for ideas to improve your life and the lives of those around you with Lent.

Give up an idle mind

Sometimes you need something to shake up the everyday. If your job isn’t stimulating you or you’ve grown bored lately, you can always consider trying something new. 

If you’re looking for something to learn, there are lots of options. Sign up for a subscription class and learn a new language, a new craft, a new game, etc. Join a book club and use that analytical mind. Take a pottery class and have your own Ghost moment. Learn to use a sewing machine and wear your own clothes. It has the added bonus of being the sustainable option. 

There’s a wide world out there, full of things we were introduced to as kids then never looked at again. Now can be the time to look at it again.

Photo credit Marília Castelli via Unsplash

Give up the toxic people

This one will definitely be the trickiest one, but in order to keep good mental health, some people need to go. 

This can be a friend that you’ve noticed never shows up when you need them, a boss that’s making your job miserable, or even your own partner. 

There is so much to think about there. The small things your friend does won’t feel like enough to cut off ties, but like any other form of harassment, they build. It’s perfectly valid to cut ties if you feel you have to. 

The same goes for your partner. If the toxic behaviours are building, you can get out. No one is going to say it’s easy, but it’s doable. A support system is a great help here.

Give up the exercise trends

The problem here is you’ve tried a lot of the trendy exercises, and they either didn’t work, or the guy on the weights giving you free tickets to the fitness show intimidated you right out of the gym, or it’s boring.

Find something you love that makes you feel alive. It can be as simple as incorporating a walk into your daily commute or yoga into your work from home life. Try cold water swimming, rock climbing, tango dancing, boxing, etc.

Photo credit Paz Arando via Unsplash

Give up the carbon footprint

There are a lot of things you can do to lessen your carbon footprint. Browse around the vintage shops and enjoy a stylish alternative to fast fashion. Go round the charity shops for some vintage items to decorate your home. Switch out your car for public transport, or a walk, run, or cycle into work.

They say that veganism is good for the environment. That’s up to you to research and decide. But it might help your health to cut back on your red meat intake. We’ve grown accustomed to the idea that a meal needs meat to be complete when that isn’t true. Browse the vegan alternatives in the supermarket and you can still live by that philosophy while reducing your effect on the planet.

Look up ways you can reduce your energy usage while you’re at it. Not only will it lessen your effect on the planet, but your utility bills will go down too.