Is it Healthy?

Is it spiritually healthy to make Great Lent so hard for ourselves that we are bound to fail?  Over the last 6 or so months, I noticed a focus on a couple websites that have occupied a great deal of my time.  In the case of eBay, also more of my money than it should, also.  For Great Lent, I decided to give them up.  So far, I have managed to concur the eBay problem.  The other website, not so much.  For those who aren’t familiar with Twitter, it’s sort of a micro-blogging type thing.  The way my community of friends, both online and real life, are using it is closer to a large, ongoing chat.  It’s been described as a cocktail party, people float in and out throughout the day, with conversation ebbing and flowing.  For the people who live far away and I only see once or twice a year, this is my main way of keeping up with them.  I found that after a couple days, I really missed this interaction.  Being a stay-at-home mom, who’s friends have all decided to go back to work within the last year or so, sometimes this is my only adult interaction during the day.  I gave in and started reading the posts.  Is this a failure?  I haven’t decided yet.  Should I have even tried to give up this social interaction?  I haven’t made up my mind on that.  I think we, as human beings, crave social interaction.  The fact that most of mine comes online has been an eye opener.  I need to seek out outlets closer to home.  My first Great Lent, I tried to give up TV.  It took me only a couple days to realize that living in a house with people who don’t observe Great Lent, it was impossible.  I couldn’t ask the non-observant people to give it up for just me.  But this is something different.  It is something I have control over, but is it healthy to give up something that I seem to need without having alternatives?