I’m not Catholic. I’m not a fan of the Catholic Church. I’m not saying all Catholics are going to hell or anything. If you’re Catholic, good for you. I pray you figure out grace and faith based salvation. Many Catholics have.

That said, Catholics have a lot of traditions that are pretty good ideas. Lent is one of those. In the Bible, 40 seems to be a good number for fasting (giving something up). So Catholics, for Lent, give up something for the 40 days before Easter. This has also spawned a not-so-great tradition of “Fat Tuesday” (a.k.a. Marti Gras) which is basically a day to abuse all your vices as much as you can before you have to give them up for Lent. It’s kind of like eating a bathtub full of ice cream the night before you start your diet. Yeah. Whatever.

I think it’s a good idea to fast especially for something that you should probably give up anyway. And I’m a firm believer in the idea that if you can do something (or not do something) for a month, you can make a good habit (or break a bad habit) that will last. New Year’s resolutions are great, but they don’t have a short term goal like Lent does.

I’ve got to be more productive, both at home and at work. So for Lent (which started yesterday… Yeah, I’m late. Sue me.) I’m going to give up personal surfing at work and I’m going to get up a little bit earlier in the morning to do my blog surfing before work. That way I’m not cutting into my productivity time at home either.

I’m predicting the unfortunate side effect that my own blogging output will take a hit. Maybe not, but it seems likely.

That’s my committment. What are you giving up for Lent?