C3PX said:

I am not Catholic either, but I am very fond of the idea of giving stuff up for a period of time. I find it keeps me from growing too soft. Has to be something you rely on a lot though to really be any kind of a big deal. Most of the things in life we feel are necessities really are not, so I definitely think it is a good idea to force ourselves to learn how to cope without them.

It's true. Our refrigerator died last fall. I ordered a part off of ebay to fix it, and it took 5 days to get here. We bought blocks of ice and stuck them in the fridge and kept the door shut. The freezer was a lost cause, but we lived without "refrigeration" for almost a whole week! And it wasn't too bad...