Do you do anything different?
Go to Ash Wednesday service. Fat Tuesday has never been a thing for me.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
When God created Adam, the material to make him is not revealed. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female them” (Gen. 1:27). God commanded Adam not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die (2:16). Thus when Adam and Eve ate the fruit, God said, “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return” (Gen. 3:19). Adam didn’t know how long he will live on earth but there will be a day that he die.
What does that have to do with giving up something trivial before Easter.
Lent is not about "giving something up." The church season of Lent has a more somber, penitential character than most the rest of the year and is the lead up to Easter. The Lenten season is meant for Christians to meditate on Christ's suffering during his time fasting in the desert and on the cross. "Giving something up" for Lent is a matter of Christian freedom. Some do so to help them focus on and remember Christ's suffering on our behalf.
As far as the imposition of ashes, it is an ancient act of repentance and helps the Christian focus on the meaning of the day. As with other traditions or sacraments, there is both a material component (ashes) and a spiritual component (God's word). Just as children may require a material component (apples, tally sticks, etc.) to get a handle on mathematics, ashes and other material components in traditions and sacraments aid many humans' understanding of the spiritual significance.
I pay no attention to Lent. The concept has nothing to do with anything Jesus said or taught.
I thought it was the 40 days of temptation of Jesus by the devil in the desert?
So what? Jesus did not instruct the disciples to have Lent.
Yes, but God's church is filled with humans who live on a human scale and the church calendar & it corporate observances (with its focus on major events in Christ's life) is a teaching tool for those humans. The various parts of the year, Holy Days, and suchlike are used to teach about Christ's message. They bring up, on a time scale we humans can manage, Christ's life and message in a corporate manner.
The church fathers were neither fools nor were they ignorant of the nature of men. Finding ways to preach the Word so the Holy Spirit can do its work was part of their duty. Another part is to help mature believers in the fait and to keep some part of their daily. lived life focused on Christ.
