After attending Ash Wednesday Mass, I stopped by the Breckenridge library. One of my favorite librarians, Jane, came out with an armful of books for me. She asked what I had decided to give up for Lent, I believe because she had read my column last week.

I sheepishly confessed that I had settled on something only the night before. I decided that my Lenten sacrifice would be to give up my nightly viewing of political talk shows and the accompanied scrolling through social media.

From 6 p.m. until bedtime, no TV, no computer, no social media. Instead, I will read, knit, listen to audiobooks or classical music — all activities I love yet somehow fall by the wayside once I turn on the TV and pick up my phone.

Although this is being done as a Lenten sacrifice, it’s also a personal reckoning. I say I value books over TV, but I haven’t been living that truth.

Even after I’ve turned off the TV for the night and headed to bed to read until I fall asleep, I check news sites until my eyes grow too heavy to read. How to reconcile my aspiration with my reality?