A Christian Tradition That Can Teach You Discipline Even If You Aren’t Religious

Acts of abstention are the key to a better life.

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I’m not a particularly religious man but I did grow up in the church, seeing preachers proselytize ancient stories and the subjective wisdom of the bible. Even if you’re the most cynical person towards religion, you can still learn much from Christian traditions.

For example, Lent comes every year for Catholics. It goes from March until mid April (the exact dates vary each year) and pays tribute to Jesus’s 40 days in the wilderness. Per tradition, you give up something important for that stretch of time. We can borrow and modify this exercise to bring great benefits to our lives and relationships.

Adding becomes subtracting

Many of the healthiest decisions we make involve stopping rather than starting. Removing bad food from your diet adds energy and overall health. Removing caffeine late in the day adds better sleep. These are the unintended perks that Lent often provides.

Per a 2020 report by Twitter’s Lent Tracker, most four popular things people gave up for Lent were:

1. Social media
2. Alcohol
3. Fast Food