Let Seven Three Distilling Co. be your one-stop on game day. We will be providing secure parking spots that must be reserved in advance for all game days this football season. Have your pre-game routine in place now so all you have to do on game day is enjoy cocktails and cheer.
Let Seven Three Distilling Co. be your one-stop on game day. We will be providing secure parking spots that must be reserved in advance for all game days this football season. Have your pre-game routine in place now so all you have to do on game day is enjoy cocktails and cheer.
Let Seven Three Distilling Co. be your one-stop on game day. We will be providing secure parking spots that must be reserved in advance for all game days this football season. Have your pre-game routine in place now so all you have to do on game day is enjoy cocktails and cheer.
Lent has a way of getting our attention. It is forty days that invite reflection, restraint, and a reset of the habits we slip into when life gets loud. For some people, that means giving up alcohol. For others, that means something entirely different.
If you love craft spirits, Lent can feel like the season that gently taps the bar and asks, “What is this doing in your life right now?” That question is not meant to cancel joy. It is meant to clarify it. Lent is rarely just about subtraction. It is about making room for prayer, generosity, presence, and better patterns. So if alcohol is not the thing you are giving up this year, here are ten other ideas that pair surprisingly well with a Lent-shaped life.
Doom-scrolling is not the same thing as staying informed. It is the endless loop of headlines, outrage, comment sections, and algorithmic anxiety that leaves you wired, weary, and oddly hollow. The problem is not knowledge. The problem is the way constant exposure trains your nervous system to live on alert. You can end your day with more information and less peace, more opinions and less wisdom, more noise and less clarity.
A simple Lent fast here is to quit the late-night spiral and the reflexive “just one more refresh.” Pay attention to when the urge hits, because it usually shows up when you are tired, lonely, bored, or avoiding something. Replace the habit with a calmer closing ritual. Ten minutes of quiet, a short walk, a few pages of a good book, or a brief prayer can do more for your mind than another scroll ever will. If you want a clean boundary, set a specific cutoff time for social media and news, then notice what rises to the surface when the screen is no longer the easy escape.
Give Up Harsh Words and the Tone That Delivers Them
Lent is a strong season for speech because words reveal what is happening underneath. Harshness is not always loud. It can be sarcasm that lands like a jab, a cold tone that communicates contempt, or the sharp efficiency of speaking to people like problems to manage. Stress has a way of turning into verbal force, especially with the people closest to us.
Giving up harsh words means paying attention to the moment just before you speak. Practice slowing down by a few seconds. That pause is often the difference between reacting and responding. Choose clarity over cleverness, and gentleness over point-scoring. If you want something concrete, pick one daily conversation where you commit to a “soft answer” no matter how your day is going. Over forty days, the small practice builds a new reflex, and relationships feel the difference.
Gossip feels like connection, but it is usually a shortcut. It bonds people quickly by creating a sense of “us,” but it often does so at the cost of someone else’s dignity and your own peace. Even “concerned” gossip can become a habit of narrating other people’s problems so you do not have to face your own restlessness.
A Lent fast from gossip is not just refusing to speak badly. It is learning a cleaner kind of community. When you feel the temptation to share a story that is not yours to tell, stop and ask whether it is true, necessary, and kind. If it is not, let it die with you. Then practice a replacement that actually builds you. Pray for the person you are tempted to discuss. Say one good thing about them instead. If the conversation around you starts drifting toward gossip, redirect it gently or step away without drama. Over time, you will notice how much lighter your mind feels when it is not carrying other people’s mess.
Online shopping is not inherently wrong. But impulse spending can become a numbing strategy dressed up as a treat. When “Add to Cart” becomes your emotional support button, it usually means you are trying to soothe stress, boredom, insecurity, or exhaustion with a quick hit of novelty.
A meaningful Lent practice is to pause the automatic purchase cycle. Create a rule that forces a decision instead of a reflex, like waiting twenty four hours before buying anything that was not planned. In that waiting window, ask what you were actually craving. Was it comfort, reward, control, distraction, or the feeling of being taken care of? If you want the fast to become generous, set aside the money you would have spent and donate it, or use it to bless someone quietly. The goal is not guilt. The goal is freedom, the kind that comes from wanting less urgently.
Many of us live with something playing all the time. Podcasts while cooking, music while working, TV in the background, endless videos during any quiet moment. Noise can be enjoyable, but it can also become a way to avoid being alone with your thoughts, your grief, your longing, or your unanswered questions.
Lent invites you to let silence do its surprisingly helpful work. Give up having something on by default. Build one quiet window into your day, even if it is only ten minutes. Let the dishwasher run without competing audio. Drive without filling every moment. Sit with a cup of coffee or tea and notice what you feel. At first, silence can be uncomfortable because it reveals what is underneath. With time, it becomes spacious. It is easier to pray, to reflect, and to hear what you have been drowning out.
Give Up Comparing Your Life to Other People’s Highlight Reels
Comparison is one of the most common thieves of joy. It takes your real, complicated, ordinary life and forces it into a contest against someone else’s curated best moments. It can breed anxiety, envy, contempt, or a low-grade dissatisfaction that follows you around all day.
A Lent fast from comparison begins with noticing the triggers. Certain accounts, certain social circles, certain work environments can pull you into measuring. You do not need to pretend those things do not exist. You just need to stop letting them define what “good” looks like. Practice returning to gratitude that is specific and grounded. Name real gifts in your actual day: a friend who texted, a meal that nourished, a home that sheltered you, a moment of laughter, a small win at work. Gratitude does not deny difficulty. It just refuses to let someone else’s highlight reel make you blind to your own life.
Multitasking often feels productive, but it usually fragments you. You eat while scrolling, listen while drafting a reply, work while checking notifications, talk while half-watching something else. Over time, divided attention becomes a lifestyle. You are everywhere and nowhere at once.
Lent can be a permission slip to do fewer things at the same time and to do them with more care. Practice single-tasking for forty days. Eat without your phone. Work in a focused block, then stop. When someone speaks to you, listen without rehearsing your response. When you rest, rest without apologizing for it. A surprising thing happens when you practice attention: the ordinary becomes richer. You notice more. You waste less. You show up.
If you want a simple, tangible fast that is specific and measurable, consider giving up added sugar or the sweet snacks you reach for on autopilot. Sugar is not just about food. It is often about comfort. It reveals how quickly we reach for relief when we are tired, stressed, or emotionally drained.
A wise Lent approach is not to punish yourself. It is to pay attention. When the craving hits, pause long enough to ask what you are actually wanting. Are you hungry, or are you needing a break? Are you stressed, or are you lonely? Then choose something nourishing instead, whether that is a balanced snack, a glass of water, a walk, or a short moment of breathing. Over forty days, this kind of fast can recalibrate your body and your awareness at the same time.
Give Up One Small Luxury That Has Become Automatic
There is a category of daily indulgence that feels harmless until you try to stop. Maybe it is a fancy coffee every morning, fast food lunches, energy drinks, snacking while driving, or an evening treat that has become routine. None of these things are automatically bad. The Lent opportunity is to notice what has become automatic, because what is automatic often becomes unexamined.
Choose one small luxury and make it occasional instead of constant. The point is awareness, not punishment. When the habit is interrupted, you learn something about yourself. You discover how often you were using that indulgence as a reward, a coping tool, or a little promise that the day would feel better. When you regain choice, you gain freedom. That is the heart of a good fast.
One of the sneakiest habits many of us carry is the belief that rest must be earned. We tell ourselves that exhaustion equals importance, and that stopping is irresponsible unless every box is checked. The result is a life that is constantly running, constantly performing, and constantly fraying at the edges.
Lent is a perfect season to practice healthier limits. Giving up excuses for not resting might look like protecting one daily rest practice, such as an earlier bedtime, a phone-free meal, a short walk, or a hard stop to work at a reasonable hour. It might mean learning to say no without a long explanation. It might mean choosing to be present with your people instead of proving your productivity. Rest is not laziness. It is stewardship. It is how you remember you are a person, not a machine.
Lent In New Orleans: Small Ways To Reset Your Routine During The Season
In New Orleans, Lent follows right after the city hits maximum volume. When Mardi Gras turns into Ash Wednesday, you can feel the pace shift, and that makes this season a uniquely good time to reset your routine in a grounded, gentle way.
If you are visiting or you live here, consider choosing one small change that fits the city’s rhythm. Swap one late night for a quiet morning walk through the French Quarter, the Garden District, or along the river, and let the silence do its work. Keep Fridays intentionally simple with a calmer meal, fewer screens, and an earlier cutoff at night. If you notice yourself falling into “vacation autopilot” habits, like impulse shopping or snacking all day, replace one of those moments with something slower and more present, such as a museum stop, a lingering coffee, or a few minutes of prayer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can i give up for Lent besides alcohol?
You can give up doom-scrolling, gossiping, online shopping, TV or podcasts, unnecessary sugar, or many other things.
How long is Lent?
Lent is 40 days long.
How do I choose the right thing to fast from?
Pick the habit that’s most automatic, most soothing, or most distracting—especially the one you reach for when you’re tired, stressed, lonely, bored, or avoiding something.
What’s a realistic way to quit doom-scrolling during Lent?
Start with one clear boundary: a cutoff time at night, no phone in bed, or “news only once per day.” Replace it with a calmer ritual—reading, a short walk, quiet, or a brief prayer.
How can I stop online shopping if it’s my stress relief?
Add friction: a 24-hour wait rule for unplanned purchases. In that pause, ask what you actually wanted—comfort, distraction, control, reward—and choose a healthier substitute.
Why give up “constant background noise”? Isn’t music or a podcast harmless?
It can be enjoyable, but constant noise can also be avoidance. Silence helps you notice what’s underneath—fatigue, grief, longing, anxiety—and creates space for prayer and reflection.
Is multitasking really that bad?
Often, yes. It fragments attention and makes you feel busy but not present. A Lent practice of single-tasking can make meals, conversations, work, and rest feel calmer and richer.
What’s an example of a “small luxury” to give up?
Anything that’s become automatic: fancy coffee every morning, fast food lunches, energy drinks, daily treats, snacking in the car. The goal is noticing what you use it for—reward, coping, distraction.
What if I slip and break my fast during Lent?
Don’t turn it into shame or quitting. Notice what happened, reset immediately, and continue. Lent is practice—not perfection.
What should I replace my “give up” habit with?
A replacement makes the fast sustainable: prayer, quiet, reading, a walk, journaling, a call to a friend, a focused work block, or a small act of generosity.
Can Lent be meaningful if I’m not very religious?
Yes. Even as a personal reset, these practices can create clarity, calm, and better patterns. If faith is part of your life, they can also open more room for prayer and presence.
A Lent Reminder for People Who Love Craft
Craft is built on intention. Distilling is slow, careful work that rewards patience, attention, and respect for what is happening beneath the surface. There is timing, restraint, discipline, and a willingness to let good things take time. Lent is similar. It is forty days of practicing something small that can change something big.
Whatever you give up for Lent, keep the point in view. Lent is not an endurance contest. It is a reset. It is a clearing of space so that prayer, generosity, and joy have room to breathe. And when Easter comes, joy tends to feel brighter when you have been paying attention.
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