The start of Lent on Wednesday brings about a second chance.

A clean slate to repent of all your sinful January woes, and retrieve those New Year’s resolutions.

Maybe this time you will slip in a 5km run every morning and you’ll even bound out of bed at 5am, glowing with good health. This time round you will find the will power to ignore the siren call of chocolate. Is that not what Lent is all about?

Over-indulging, fasting for 40 days, then some more over-indulgence?

Western perceptions of Lent seem incredibly skewed, although many know the Christian story of why we have Lent: Jesus spent 40 days in the desert, deprived of food while being tempted by the devil.

Many do not see the true purpose. Commonly, Christian or not, people give up at least one item of food and desperately attempt to abstain from failure, even if that does mean hallucinating about gorging on the forbidden fruit. Then, as a kind of well-deserved pat on the back, all that restraint is ruined for the 24 hours that is Easter Sunday, a day seemingly dedicated to making up for lost eating time.

But don’t worry – you are deserving. You are now practically Jesus himself.

My point is, we all over-indulge. It’s the Western way, whether it be materialistically or dietarily, most have more than we actually need – fantastic as it is. So rewarding ourselves for this to me is more of an ego stroke then anything – myself included.

It’s a chance to test our self- restraint and to share with everyone how wonderfully disciplined we all are, and how it has been a truly gruelling psychological progress. It’s more seen as a diet a la the ‘5:2 diet’,the dukan diet, a “detox”. But maybe this year we could turn this around? Throwing a couple of selfless acts in there wouldn’t go amiss. Even if you aren’t Christian, the Bible ain’t bad on the whole moral giving message.

I see Lent as a combination of opportunities: firstly a little abstention is always a winner. Next, it’s a perfect opportunity for self-re-evaluation. I don’t mean gazing critically into a mirror, but trimming those unwanted traits.

However, here’s the catch: keeping it going. I like the sound of, “Lent isn’t just for 40 days. It’s for life” I’m not just talking cake wolfing either, but something with longer-term benefits. Secondly, selfless acts of kindness. I don’t mean Scouts helping an old lady across the street kind of thing, but something that makes someone else happier.

This, I think, many of us discount. Of course if you volunteer or are very charitable or anything like that you’re practically a saint anyway, so just carry on. The rest of us will just be staring respectfully up at you, while enduring a riveting phone conversation with our grandma.

Honestly though, if that 15 minutes or so can make someone’s day, I would be more than happy for that to be taken from my time-wasting schedule.

Let the 40 days begin…