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jayfurrMy main Lenten vow for 2011 was "cut waaaaaaaaaaay back on coffee."
That may not sound like much of a vow; people seem to think that a Lenten vow involves completely abstaining from something. The real purpose of a Lenten vow, in my opinion, is to work for several weeks on things that might be getting in the way of you having a proper relationship with God (or your choice of diety).
If you watch so much television, for example, that your laundry goes undone and you're never in a state of reflective peace, maybe you should drop back or eliminate TV for a few weeks and see if it positively changes your life.
Similarly, if you work as a trainer and regard coffee as Perkiness Fuel, keeping you bouncy and cheerful... but are actually drinking quarts of the stuff each day and you've built up a huge tolerance, requiring ever greater amounts to really feel revved up, well, that's not a good situation. Ideally, humans aren't supposed to require constant infusions of coffee alkaloids to be able to function, you know?
I had the sense to try going cold turkey on coffee a few days before Lent began. Just to see if it would make for a suitable, workable Lenten commitment.
Boy, howdy, did that work out badly. I had massive cranky achy sick headaches that left me feeling like someone had crammed cotton or perhaps steel wool into every compartment inside my head.
So I said "Okay: revised and official Lenten vow: no more than one cup of coffee per day. No caffeinated colas or energy drinks. No caffeinated tea. As little chocolate as you can possibly manage." Each morning I get up, have one cup, head off to work, and that's it for the day.
Even that regimen was hard for the first week. I felt mega-groggy by the end of each day, but kept on going. The situation improved after that: today, for example, I have not yet had a cup and I'm functioning. (Yes, I probably will get a cup before I go in to the office for today's class. I don't want to spend the morning slowly waking up -- I want to be wide awake right now.)
I've been telling myself that the final piece in the puzzle would come when warm spring weather arrived and I could get out on my bike and ride 20 miles in to work, or go out and run five miles. Then my knee got injured and I've been taking it easy. But I still think that replacing a big chemical caffeine boost with the boost that comes from exercise and physical fitness will be the step that lets me strip out the coffee from my life altogether.
I have a physical therapy appointment today at 6. I hope I have good news to post thereafter.
That may not sound like much of a vow; people seem to think that a Lenten vow involves completely abstaining from something. The real purpose of a Lenten vow, in my opinion, is to work for several weeks on things that might be getting in the way of you having a proper relationship with God (or your choice of diety).
If you watch so much television, for example, that your laundry goes undone and you're never in a state of reflective peace, maybe you should drop back or eliminate TV for a few weeks and see if it positively changes your life.
Similarly, if you work as a trainer and regard coffee as Perkiness Fuel, keeping you bouncy and cheerful... but are actually drinking quarts of the stuff each day and you've built up a huge tolerance, requiring ever greater amounts to really feel revved up, well, that's not a good situation. Ideally, humans aren't supposed to require constant infusions of coffee alkaloids to be able to function, you know?
I had the sense to try going cold turkey on coffee a few days before Lent began. Just to see if it would make for a suitable, workable Lenten commitment.
Boy, howdy, did that work out badly. I had massive cranky achy sick headaches that left me feeling like someone had crammed cotton or perhaps steel wool into every compartment inside my head.
So I said "Okay: revised and official Lenten vow: no more than one cup of coffee per day. No caffeinated colas or energy drinks. No caffeinated tea. As little chocolate as you can possibly manage." Each morning I get up, have one cup, head off to work, and that's it for the day.
Even that regimen was hard for the first week. I felt mega-groggy by the end of each day, but kept on going. The situation improved after that: today, for example, I have not yet had a cup and I'm functioning. (Yes, I probably will get a cup before I go in to the office for today's class. I don't want to spend the morning slowly waking up -- I want to be wide awake right now.)
I've been telling myself that the final piece in the puzzle would come when warm spring weather arrived and I could get out on my bike and ride 20 miles in to work, or go out and run five miles. Then my knee got injured and I've been taking it easy. But I still think that replacing a big chemical caffeine boost with the boost that comes from exercise and physical fitness will be the step that lets me strip out the coffee from my life altogether.
I have a physical therapy appointment today at 6. I hope I have good news to post thereafter.
