giving up "hope" for lent

So it's Lent.
I missed my FAVORITE holiday of the year - Fat Tuesday - and I have no excuse.
Obviously it is not my favorite holiday or I would have remembered it, but I think it's cool to have a holiday dedicated ENTIRELY to gorging yourself before fasting.
So Lent. I am not Catholic, but every year I give up something for Lent. Every year I give up the SAME thing for lent. HOPE.
That's right, I give up hope for 40 days out of the year. I could probably give it up for more than that, but I try to limit myself.
I would write more on the topic, but I am in despair right now so I have to sign off and get me some chocolate. That's why I can't give up chocolate - how would I get through having no hope if I couldn't bury the pain in chocolate.
(I will just say this. Mitt Romney withdrew from the republican race for candidacy and that ALMOST dragged me RIGHT back into having hope again after I had given it up. I had to fight myself to maintain my hopelessness, but that's what lent is about - effort.)