Raised in a Catholic house­hold, I’ve spent nearly two decades giv­ing some­thing up for Lent.

Meant to remind Catholics of the 40 days of Jesus’ fast, Lenten rit­ual requires that some­thing be given up, a sort of vice, to remind us of His suffering.

No meat on Fridays? I don’t know where that fits in exactly with the Bible and Jesus. I’ve heard rumors about the Pope and Italian fish­er­men, but regard­less, I like seafood and grilled cheese, so it’s not a problem.

What I strug­gle with every year is what to give up for lent? Chocolate is one of the most pop­u­lar along with ice cream and other sweet treats top­ping most people’s lists. Recent years have seen a rise in giv­ing up Facebook for Lent and oth­ers choose to give up soda.

My mother would sug­gest to us as chil­dren that instead of try­ing to give some­thing up, we should try to start doing some­thing new that would make our lives and the lives of oth­ers better.

Under this ide­ol­ogy, one could endeavor to vol­un­teer more or make a more con­certed effort to exercise.

I think I like that bet­ter. My fel­low Torch staffers might like that too. I could be a bet­ter lis­tener or more orga­nized. My pro­fes­sors would like it if I par­tic­i­pated more in my courses.

The point is, giv­ing some­thing up that we enjoy, like junk food or Facebook, is fine, but come Easter Sunday we’ll be log­ging on with melted choco­late on our fin­gers. Trying to be bet­ter can help form pos­i­tive, long-lasting habits – the way, I’m guess­ing, Jesus would have wanted it.