Lent, a new, old perspective

So if any of you have grown up either in the the Catholic church, with Catholic background, or you were the weird protestant like I was and went to a Catholic elementary school you will know of the practice and recognize the word "Lent". Now when I was younger I never gave much thought to it, I thought, as most of you probably do, it was just another "weird" Catholic tradition. But recently I have been led to look at it differently, from a new perspective that is actually an old one!
To begin to introduce you to this perspective we have to first know that every Tuesday morning a meet with a friend of mine at school and we discuss readings from a book we are working through called "The Imitations of Christ" by Thomas a Kempis (as a side note if you are a God fearing, and Christ seeking Christian I highly recommend this read). In our weekly discussions we frequently discuss the topic of "a higher standard". This last Wednesday marked the beginning of Lent in the Church Calendar, Sam (the guy I meet with) mentioned to me that since his time as Tyndale (now three years) he has been intrigued with the true idea of Lent and so regularly practices it. Like wise he then challenged me to implement the practice into my life this year, as a spiritual discipline.
Now if you have no idea what I am talking about, like the good Catholic shunning Protestant you are, let me explain what Lent is now, and what it was originally meant to be!
Lent in the Catholic tradition is a time where an individual gives up something for 40 days prior to Easter. These sacrifices tend to be chocolate, T.V. or junk food in general. Now this has become, like a lot of things in the Catholic faith, an obligatory tradition that is done in repetition each year.
Now what is Lent meant, and supposed to be? Lent was a practice adopted by the early church to represent the 40 days of fasting in the desert that Jesus took prior to his mission work, (Matthew 4:1-11, and Luke 4:2). Why this was adopted was to help the individuals of the church offer something up to God (notice I did not say sacrifice) so that the individual(s) could come closer to God and grow in His will.
This original practice however due to time and lack of real education on it has been lost to tradition, obligation and sacrifice. The meaning of it has been lost and is either practiced for the sake of mere practice or not done at all (aka protestants).
Now as I have said earlier, Sam had challenged me this past Tuesday to take on the practice of lent as an offering and time to grow closer to God. And so I have adopted it into my own life and faith Journey. This Lent season I have given up my individual alone watching of Netflix and use of social media on my Phone (Snap chat, Messenger, mobile Facebook and messenger) instead of meaninglessly wasting my time with these I am replacing the time in growing either closer to God individually or growing in community with my brothers and sisters in faith. It has almost been a week and not going to lie I have felt, like Jesus was, tempted in this spiritual "fasting desert" to give in to my offering over to God. But in this process I have gained a new perspective of offering, prayer, and my own walk with God.
And so I would challenge you to start your own offering and "fasting in the desert" process in this Lent season. We are a week in but that doesn't matter, do it to benefit your spiritual walk with God. I would then challenge you to please post your offering and fasting decision down below in the comments!