Want to enjoy life? Then give up what you really love.
Yep, you read that right. That's what Dr. Christine Carter, Berkeley prof and author of Raising Happiness, suggests. "I know," she writes, "that depriving yourself doesn’t seem fun, but entitlement and adaptation undermine appreciation." She then goes on to point out that "research shows that we enjoy things more when we give them up for a little while. For example, people who gave up chocolate for seven days enjoyed it more at the end of the week than people who indulged all week."
Interestingly, she then concludes that "This might be why Lent is a common religious practice!"
Perhaps it is a mistake to think of Lent as a misguided religious impulse to punish ourselves. Maybe, just maybe, this ancient practice turns out to a far better path to delight than our current approaches built on indulgence.