Everyone in my life knows that I love coffee. Even if I just met you, you probably know I love coffee. I am the living, breathing, real-life version of Lorelai Gilmore.
Every holiday is filled with coffee beans, cute mugs or gift cards to my favorite coffee shops. I am a self-proclaimed coffee connoisseur. My friends constantly tag me in memes involving caffeine. It's just something I'm really into.
Eventually, I started getting caffeine headaches... I would get serious migraines if I didn't drink enough coffee that day. The headaches would affect my social life and academic career, as I couldn't function with my head pounding so aggressively.
It became such a problem, and everyone around me knew it.
I came back to college after my winter break and made a promise to my friends that I wouldn't drink coffee for a week. I needed to prove to them (and myself) that I could go a whole seven days without drinking coffee.
What I quickly realized was that coffee wasn't just a drink to me; it was my safety net.
When I am put in an uncomfortable position, I like to have a hot drink in front of me to drink to avoid long, awkward pauses in conversations or to keep myself from getting called on in class.
Whenever I wanted to run away from someplace or someone, I'd go to a cozy coffee shop and throw myself into my work. Coffee wasn't something I needed, but rather something I wanted to make myself feel more comfortable in whatever situation I was in.
I constantly told myself that no matter what was going wrong in my life, coffee could fix it. No matter who betrayed me, my favorite latte would always be there for me. It was comforting.
It still is comforting. I still enjoy the feeling of having a steaming cup o' Joe right next to me as I write articles or do my homework. Coffee acts as a little reward for studying or an incentive to continue doing so.
During that week -- and by week, I totally mean five days because I couldn't go a whole week without coffee -- without my daily cup, I acted no differently. I still was happy, and I could still function just as efficiently as when I was consistently caffeinated.
Was it uncomfortable for me to walk around with both hands free rather than having one constantly occupied by my coffee cup? Of course.
It was awkward to sit in a coffee shop with my friends and consume decaf tea while they all drank their beautiful cappuccinos and relished every sip. But after last week, I learned something important:
It's never a bad thing to step outside of your comfort zone.
In this case, I realized that I have the willpower to not drink coffee if I so choose. I have the capability to never drink caffeine again and ditch my safety blanket for good.
Will I forever ditch coffee? Probably not.
However, I don't have coffee every day now. I try to only drink it when I have meetings or truly need the caffeine boost. And I've learned a lot about myself and my comfort zone in the process. It's about so much more than the coffee.
