Disclaimer: this blog post was written by a true coffee addict. My claims may or may not be supported scientifically. I am not a scientist.
I recently came around to the idea that I am, in fact, reliant on coffee. On a daily basis I consume enough coffee to take down a centaur. In an evil attempt to undermine my caffeine-induced happiness, a friend of mine challenged me to a one-month coffee famine. My prize? $10. Not much of an incentive, but it still got me wondering: am I really that addicted to coffee? The answer is yes. And although my coffee-famine lasted an embarrassingly, record-setting low of 25 hours, I’m happy that I quit quitting coffee.
I accepted the one- month challenge Monday morning, literally as I finished my morning cup. Feeling confident, I went all day fueled on that one cup and slept like a baby that night. Contrary to popular belief, I even survived my 6:30 a.m. morning commute the next day without a morning cup of java. It wasn’t until lunch time that I decided to cave. It wasn’t the physical withdrawal symptoms- the grogginess, the headaches (yes, that happens) or crankiness- that made me quit. It was the mind games that riddled through my head as I sat mindlessly in my morning lecture. Similar to drawing up a pros and cons chart on a diner napkin, I mentally categorized my personal benefits and drawbacks of drinking coffee. And guess what? I went with the pros side. So, after class I stood up, dug into my pocket in search of change and headed towards the dreaded 10 minute line-up at Tim’s.
As a true addict, I could simply end this post with the classic: “I could quit tomorrow, I just don’t want to.” But I know that’s not true. If I truly wanted to stop, I couldn’t just go cold-turkey. Instead, I would have to slow down my daily consumption over a period of time until I could realistically stop drinking it entirely. But lets get to what’s important here—why am I happy that I failed the challenge, and proudly quit quitting coffee?
Productivity: Whether it is the caffeine itself, or the routine of drinking a coffee before I start my day, I am well aware that I get off to a better, more productive start when I have a morning coffee. Every morning, I have a scheduled routine that involves drinking a cup of coffee as I read the news. It jump starts my morning and it leads to a more productive day. [Insert some sort of supportive study, and ignore all other possible rebuttal studies].
Boosts my mood: As much as I hate to admit it, I am a happier person after my morning cup of coffee. Yes, you can argue that once I beat the addiction, my mood can be just as good without coffee. My response: I enjoy my morning coffee, and it means I won’t be miserable when we speak. [Imagine me driving to school this morning at 6:30 a.m. Now compare that to a morning commute when I do have coffee. This quick comparative study finds coffee benefits].
Calms me down: It is a fact that for me, coffee has become a beverage that calms me down. Whether it is stress at school/work or being socially overwhelmed in a public setting, a coffee does calm me down. You can show me as much research as you want that may suggest otherwise, but the fact remains: I feel calm and less stressed with coffee.
Now what?
In the end, this entire blog post screams: “ADDICT!!” But I’m a proud addict, and although I know I don’t want to quit drinking coffee entirely (yet), I do know that I want to reduce my consumption to a comfortable amount. In my mind, that’s a winning outcome from accepting such a ridiculous challenge from my friend.
Are you as addicted to coffee as I am? Or will you all point fingers and yell addict?
Either way, I sign off this post with a cup of coffee and a crucial PSA: Tim’s Roll Up the Rim this year has two rims to roll; don’t be the one to throw away prematurely!
Large Regular 