"Decaffeinated Coffee is the Devil's Brew"

Let’s talk about coffee, that magical elixir that brings me to life every morning and keeps me awake every night. Still, I need it. If I were a person who exercised regularly maybe I wouldn’t need the pick me up, but my brain needs to be charged somehow, or else, bystanders beware!

I think the addiction started in Oregon. Although college was one of the best experiences of my life, studying was intense, and being an English major meant hundreds upon hundreds of pages to be read and comprehended every night. There were some semesters where the only classes I took were English courses. Starbucks became my source for motivation and a comforting hub to study, probably because I knew I could always refill if I was running low on fuel.

With every good addiction, however, there is always a side effect. When I haven’t had coffee for even a couple of days, I get these bad migraines that prohibit me from doing anything. I have insomnia and stay up against my body’s protests, making for bad mornings and another large cup of joe. And thus, the cycle continues.

This might be one thing I won’t be able to shake.

I like iced coffee with hazelnut syrup and nonfat milk. I like skinny vanilla lattes. Hazelnut macchiato. Caramel macchiato. Vanilla macchiato. Chai tea latte. Dirty chai tea latte. Hot coffee. Hot coffee with hot chocolate. Coffee ice cream. Anything with caffeine, really.

Why do we continue to involve ourselves in things that only bring us harm in the end? And when we’ve decided it’s bad for us, why don’t we stop? We grow accustomed to the temporary rewards and forget about the future problems that arise because of these addictions. Maybe at the time it doesn’t seem to be an addiction at all.

Because we are human, we have weaknesses. We need things to stand in for things that we don’t want to make an effort in finding the right way. When did what is healthy become replaced with what is easy? If I ran in the mornings maybe my body wouldn’t need to rely on coffee to boost my energy. Maybe if I ate an apple instead of drinking a latte I’d be able to get through the day and fall asleep at an appropriate hour come nighttime. There are all of these solutions, but the addiction is deep and my mind is really weak, further weakened by my choice to let a drink control my level of productivity.

There are so many other examples of how we compensate with harmful things/people in order to make up for a lack in our lives, but maybe I am really just talking about coffee.

When you know something is harmful for your body, your life, your soul-have the courage to do what is right by you. We’re all looking for shortcuts and forget to see that the right way, even if it’s longer, will take us to the place we want to be. Plus-the longer route is always more fun.