Giving Up Coffee
If the clouds, moon, stars can float, then maybe I can give up coffee.
Today, my fourth day without it. Immediately upon awakening, I realize I have no withdrawal symptoms—no aching, no headache, no nausea.
Once before, on a whim, I gave up coffee, but it didn’t last long—maybe three weeks.
One of the quiet good times my husband and I share is getting up early enough to drink a cup of coffee together before breakfast, before the day starts stirring, before the first chore. It’s just a sweet time for us.
Maybe it’s that sweetness I don’t want to give up.
This time, an ENT doctor told me I needed to give it up to keep my throat healthy.
If prayers can fly through my roof about the sick people that I know, I guess prayers about my coffee addiction can escape through the cracks around windows.
I do not go gently into the morning. I want a cup of coffee.
Yesterday I was at the beauty shop. While getting my hair cut, I told my hairdresser about having to give up caffeine. She, like a couple of others, thought I should just cut back to one cup a day.
“No, my throat is sore. I have to cut it out completely,” I said. “The ENT doctor said the hurt in the back of my throat would go completely away if I’d give up the coffee. If I keep drinking it, it’ll get worse.”
It’s all hard to believe any of this as I say it. Sounds unbearable.
So many sweet memories surround my coffee drinking years. My parents, in-laws, friends, brothers, sisters. We’d listen to one another and tell our dreams and plans over coffee.
But if the flowers can stand upright in this heat and look this beautiful, then I can face the morning without coffee. Surely.
The hairdresser saw how serious I was and quickly told me how to make homemade ginger tea. I left her shop and headed for the grocery store, looking for ginger root.
That doesn’t mean I didn’t google the recipe. I did.
Two ways to make ginger tea. And that’s what I had this morning. I added honey to the tea. It’s lovely. I can do this!
No clue on what I can order in a restaurant yet. Oh, I’ve been taken off teas, too.
My next question: What about decaffeinated this and that? Can I have it and not hurt myself?
Guess that’ll be a phone call made on Monday morning.
When they decaffeinate tea, do they really get all the caffeine out? I’ve heard they don’t, so I’m quitting cold turkey. Struggling but quitting, God willing.
Maybe what I actually need is the hotness of a cup with something that tastes good in the morning. I’m sure it’s a psychological and biological craving.
Maybe I won’t miss the caffeine boost. Hey, I don’t believe this at all!
I remind myself I can still outstretch my arms, palms open, fingers extended, and be a little ray of sun. It’ll be okay. I’m just in the middle of it, and it’s weird.
Fireworks in the valley, this week! Our country, independent! The Revolutionary War had to happen for that to be. If a country can set itself free, surely I can beat this little coffee addiction!
When it is done, when the battle is won, maybe I’ll do a little red, white, and blue to celebrate!
Meanwhile, I’m slightly foggy.
If anyone has suggestions on a good substitute for caffeine drinks (no sodas allowed), I have both ears open. Thank you, kind friends, for listening to my story.
God bless,
Pat Durmon
(patdurmon.com)
P.S. I thank you for the shares and the comments below.
Photo of coffee mug taken by Pat at her house, July 2019.