Life without — whether it’s love, caffeine, or even a special someone can be difficult. Especially having something you once enjoyed, stripped away from you. Okay, I’m obviously getting a bit dramatic, but seriously, it’s not easy giving something up that once gave you such comfort and ease.

For me, one of the things I gave up was coffee. Anyone who knows me, also knows how much I love coffee. So much, that I prefer my coffee black, no milk or sugar. If anything was forever going to be routinely embedded in my life, it would be my morning coffee (or afternoon tea). In college, I chose to be late for class so I could make a stop at  Jittery Joe’s (my campus coffee shop) than skip my morning coffee and be on time. I’m sure my teachers would rather us be awake than on time? When I went to Oxford in the summer of ’13 afternoon tea was my life. It got me through all my weekly paper deadlines (and we had tons of them). When I started working full-time, coffee helped me tremendously through the mornings, afternoons, and even late night study-sessions. I was hooked and didn’t even realize until after I decided to quit! I found myself drinking an average of three cups a day! I decided to give it a try, because anything done in excess is not good for you. So you know what? I quit. 

Unfortunately for me, we got this amazing expresso/latte/coffee/hot water/does-everything-but-provide-the-cup coffee machine. Needless to say, it was so tempting to put it off…but I did anyway. At the time, I told myself, it wouldn’t be forever, just for a couple months, to gauge how different I felt. If I didn’t like how I felt, I could always make the decision to start drinking coffee again.

This started around December, and it has been almost 4 months now! YAY ME. I’m actually pretty proud of myself. Yeah, coffee isn’t the worst thing in the world, but it was still an addiction, and I was able to go four months and counting without it.

Don’t get me wrong, it was hard. Especially for someone who wakes up at 7:00 AM bleary-eyed for a commute to Atlanta 5 times a week to work for 8.5 hours a day. Initially, I was miserable. Saying “good morning” was more of a chore than a greeting. I was easily irritated by the amount of work I had stacked on top of my desk. People didn’t seem as friendly anymore. I complained all the time. However, after some time and adjustment, I realized the mornings were not so bad after all. It took a couple weeks to adjust, but I actually got a unusual burst of energy in the mornings that I never got even from drinking my morning coffee.

On the other hand, the afternoons were the absolute worst, and I still to-this-day struggle around 1-4 PM. In the beginning, my energy level sunk so low and my productivity was shot flat. My attention span, determination, and motivation were nonexistent. By the time it hit 4 PM, my productivity increased slightly but I it was due to the fact that I knew would be out of work in a couple hours and actually needed to get some work done.

Another thing I noticed, was the actual number of caffeinated drinks I had within the week. Tea? Caffeine. Coke? Caffeine. Tiramisu? Caffeine. Coffee Milk Tea? Caffeine. I’m a coffee-shop girl, meaning I love sitting in cafes, doing work, grabbing dessert, or catching up with friends. After I gave up caffeine, it was difficult finding a drink on the menu that did not included caffeine. There were a few decaffeinated choices, but the only other things left were sugary drinks + desserts. One time, I  was left to order a slushie even though I was really craving a mocha frapp. Another time I ordered a citron tea, even though I preferred a soothingly sweet green tea latte. My choices were very limited. 

Coffee wasn’t a necessity, but for a long time I was a slave to caffeine. If I needed to get some work done, I’d walk on over to the break room for a hot cup. If I needed a boost for a morning hike, I’d wake up and head straight for the expresso machine. If I got tired on the road, I’d stop at the nearest coffee shop to grab a latte. It was an easy answer, a simple fix.

From the last few months, I’ve learned so much. Being off of caffeine, I feel healthier + stronger. I don’t need to rely on anything but enough sleep to get through a tough work day. I feel stronger mentally. I found out about so many different herbal teas out there, with a endless number of health benefits. I never would have even bothered to try them before. Giving up caffeine for a couple of months might be easy for some, but for others it’s an addiction they don’t realize they have.

“I’m a pessimist in the sense that we are approaching dangerous times. But I’m an optimist for exactly the same reason. Pessimism means things are getting messy. Optimism means these are precisely the times when change is possible”

Slavoj Žižek

So, my challenge to you all is to give up something, anything. It can be permanent, to make a drastic change in your life or it can be temporary, to give life a new perspective. You will never know what you find until you do.