If you were to cut me open, I would bleed coffee. On a normal day, I drink half of the coffee pot before 7am and usually throw back two or three more mugs in the afternoon. Last year, once, I accidently bought decaf coffee and only made it through half of the school day, I felt as if my brain was shaking. There have been other times where I’ve been unable to indulge my caffeine addiction and each time, I’ve found it hard to complete coherent sentences or partake in a napless day.
This addiction has always been a bit bothersome to me and it has certainly been annoying to others. I can’t go camping without Starbucks VIA and a means of heating water. I’ve prolonged already lengthy road trips to hit up a coffee joint for lattes or iced coffee. I don’t like that my lifestyle is so dependent on the bitter black liquid. And, to that end, I decided to give it up. Cold turkey. Starting today.
In preparation for my fast, I stocked up on green tea at the store yesterday and I’ve been telling myself that the headaches and brain shaking sensation will only be temporary. This morning, though, I received wisdom from a friend that I’m hoping will help me successfully strip coffee from my diet as well as endure other "challenges." Tom, a magnetic sort of friend in Texas, shared this with me after I told him about my coffee cutting adventure.
You can do it! Lots of water and a non judgemental attitude towards any physical discomfort, everything is an experience.
After I read his text message, I made a decision to embrace the impending headaches, apologizing to the sectors of my brain that I’ve made dependent on coffee. Pain is an experience and as an individual, I can be guided through that pain to experience its inverse, peace.
In relation to caffeine headaches, this seems near trivial, not unimportant, but a minimal pain to attempt to embrace as experience. But, if the same philosophy is adapted to other parts of my life, it becomes more powerful. Instead of shunning lonliness, I can embrace it as a means of an experience in self-discovery. When I feel frustrated or betrayed, I can consider those experiences in a growth light as opposed to the darkness I generally associate with such situations. Each experience, then, can be learned from and hopefully, I can evolve through them.
As day one of my journey to be a more loving me progresses (without coffee), I’m considering what Tom taught me about loving. Everything, even discomfort, is an experience.
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