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Coffee

Why I am Drinking Coffee Again

I have a confession to make. Remember my post awhile back where I quit coffee? Well here I am drinking it again. In fact, if it wasn’t for the coffee-boost, I don’t think this post would have been written at all.

So I’m a hypocrite. I flip flop on my viewpoints. I was a wee bit scared to write this post because nobody likes a hypocrite. But I am more interested in speaking my truth and being open and real, than holding steadfast to any decision I’ve made.

At the end of my post on quitting coffee I declared that I refuse to be addicted. I’m so rebellious that I rebel against my rebellion. I’ve drank coffee just about every day for the past two weeks. But I don’t feel guilty about it. I feel like a champ actually.

Rebel Without a Buzz

When I quit coffee, I was convinced that Corporate America’s drug-of-choice was just a tool to keep the worker bee buzzing. It makes undesireable tasks easier to deal with. Workers can work for long hours at a time with no breaks. It is the “one thing” many employees look forward to at their dead-end, soul sucking jobs. I still believe this to be true.

While that sounds really righteous and rebellious, that’s not why I quit. I really quit because it started making me feel agitated and cracked out. I literally couldn’t handle the buzz anymore. I detoxed and took a break and when I reintroduced coffee I couldn’t even stomach it. Despite loving the taste of coffee, I couldn’t do it anymore.

Why did I start drinking again?

I started drinking coffee again because I needed some extra gas to help me finish all the work I needed in time for my book launch a couple weeks ago. I spent 12-14 hour days leading up to the launch date and coffee was a conscious choice. I didn’t care if I couldn’t sleep at night, I was focused like a laser on getting my work finished. Caffeine helped me push through.

And for that I am grateful.

I enjoyed this boost so much that I wanted it every morning. I got used to it again and became a little dependent on it. I no longer had the insane jitters like I did before. As long as I had my cup before noon, it didn’t affect my sleep too much. The worst is when I’m lying in bed with what feels like electricity shooting up and down my legs constantly urging me to move around. During those moments I swear I’ll never drink coffee again.

A unique mental shift happened

During this time, I was waiting to feel guilty for giving up on my righteous anti-coffee crusade. I felt like I betrayed myself, but the weird thing was I didn’t actually care. I felt totally fine. I felt like coffee itself isn’t “wrong” even though I spent hours listening to audiobooks about the “truth of caffeine” and believable testimony from caffeine addicts.

I felt this relaxed and grounded state of being come over me. It was like I had gotten through a major blockage in my life – this belief that there’s a right and wrong way for me to live. That one way is better, or more “pure.” Or more “spiritual” or “divine.” And sometimes I’d beat myself up if I indulged too much in this “lower world.”

No longer did I have such high regard for “being in control” and changing my habits so much. Instead I felt a mature love and appreciation for who I am right now. I felt good enough as I am. I felt that I didn’t have to be perfect. I felt totally fine.

Being Good Enough As I Am

The idea of being pure has always entranced me. I felt like it was this attainable goal or destination. Even though I knew perfection was impossible, and that imperfection is actually what makes people relatable, I always felt an urge to be perfect. I can continue to eliminate what I thought was holding me back. The idea of personal development and self-mastery is so alluring but it can be a trap. There will always something to fix, change, or improve about myself. It never ends!

But coffee (like porn, junk food, tv, and other “lower” desires), are still part of ME. Instead of rejecting that part of me, I felt a connection to it! I started having a greater appreciation for me as a whole being. It was this beautiful acceptance that allowed everything to be ok as it was. What a relief!

The good part is, I know this about myself now. My quitting coffee was in alignment with my truth at the time. And so is my decision to start drinking it again. So here I am. Hypocrite and flip flopper. I’ll probably quit again, and start again. But this is what it means to be human.

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6 Comments

  1. Interesting article. I am also thinking about drinking coffee again for finishing my thesis in the next weeks. But the detox was so hard…
    The electricity feeling you describe sounds like Restless Legs Syndrome. To me it feels like too much energy that forces me to move. I suffered from that since childhood and found out only recently that it helps a lot to not drink coffee after noon and take magnesium before going to bed.

  2. Hello,
    How was your stomach when you started back on coffee? I am wanting to start drinking it again after 4 years but fear i will be running to the bathroom all day.????????
    I really miss coffee especially because where i live there are many outside cafe s

    Thank you

  3. You, sir, are not a hypocrite. Being a hypocrite is not switching your views, it’s holding views and acting contrary to them. Someone who doesn’t change their views, regardless of their experiences, is an idiot.

    If you are using coffee for the nootropic or ergogenic aid, then treat it as such. Journal your frequency, quantity, and quality. Caffeine can vary from brand, roast, brewing method, and other factors. Perhaps caffeine pills are a better choice. You can control the dosage exactly (100mg for example) with greater precision. I realize the stigma behind pills make this a non-option for some.

    You could also time your coffee consumption with your circadian rhythm and cortisol levels. This link will explain the concept – http://en.ilovecoffee.jp/posts/view/110.

    As far as being a purist is concerned, those are the type of people that tend to push thinks to undesirable extremes (think religions). Stop trying to be pure/perfect and strive to become optimal or as Elliot Hulse would say “the strongest version of yourself.” In this sense, you stop becoming a perfectionist and become an “optimalist.” Accepting imperfections and making compromises when necessary. It’s like the Pareto Principle applied to yourself.

    I wouldn’t put coffee in the “lower desire” catagory. Several studies have shown health benefits from coffee and caffeine.

    Most people people are dichotomous thinkers or have an all-or-nothing mentality. There may be a happy medium between the 12 hour coffee binge and none at all. “Moderation in all things.”

    • Hey Jonathan, great points. I like the idea of the optimal self. The way I look at it is more like your authentic self, accepting who you are and aligning your life with it. It’s kind of confusing when speaking about it, but when we are in alignment, we feel more at peace and excited about our life. It’s when we’re finally able to be who we were all along instead of trying to fit in. And I find that what is “true” for me one day, isn’t true for me the next. It’s only weird when we announce it publicly and then feel like we must hold ourselves to it. It’s a journey!

      • Absolutely. Announcing it makes us accountable. I’ve seen some point to using social media, such as Facebook, to announce are goals (ex. Weight Loss). The idea is that are success, and perhaps more powerful our failure, is on display to our peers. We are more motivated to achieve are goals in such a situation. I’m probably rare in the sense that I create and achieve my goals regardless of external accountability. This is probably due to a high sense of internal locus as opposed to an external locus of control.

        Being in alignment sounds similar to the “flow” concept that is becoming more popular. In other words, finding something that presents high challenge/interest and meeting it with a high level of skill. This chart explains it succinctly – http://www.exrx.net/Psychology/ChallengeSkillMentalState.html

        I think the more changes you make to your perspective, the closer you come to your “real truth” (if there is such a thing). In Hegelian dialectic there are three stages of development – Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis. For example, one could love coffee, shun it completely, then incorporate it in moderation. The last stage is a combination of the previous stages. I doubt there are just three stages though. There are endless stages with macro and micro cycles of this process. Politics is another example. There is no straight, linear push to any cultural change.

        Don’t worry that your truth changes. You are adapting to knowledge and experiences. You are being “Kaizen.”

        “Life’s a journey, not a destination.”

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