Coffee, colas more dangerous than realized

[Maria]

My prayers.

And welcome to this forum, Silverbeam.

[Barbara]

I am SO glad someone is receptive to this - of course ! - unpleasant news.

You won't believe the difference in how you feel when you get over that difficult de-addiction phase, silverbeam.

It's absolutely worth every bit of pain it will take to break that deleterious habit.

It's actually another part of being different from "the world' - in my opinion - of course, coffee-consuming True Orthodox
may raise their eyebrows. But the more one can be away from the mainstream, which is of course followed by WEAK SOULS who
give up their wish to analyze independently - the more one can blossom spiritually and see the higher vistas.

Look : Americans & Canadians are RAISED to AUTOMATICALLY drink coffee ! Think of the zillions spent to advertise tacky coffee places like starbucks.
When young, people may feel encouraged to start drinking it because their parents or elders do, so there is added cachet to looking "cool" ;
and really no choice is even presented. Tea is not even on the menu in the mass mind here.

Yet tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the REST of the world. Not that tea is great as far as the caffeine problem.
But I personally see it as a civilized beverage, connoting older more refined days of Europe, Russia, Japan, China, etc - ALL older
civilizations than this young, brash one in which we live.

So you could try some teas first - maybe Oolong is an idea - as you start to shirk that coffee habit !
It's good of you to even try. So many complain they have no will power to give it up.
You sound fairly determined with your honest description of it as a drug which you had been sort of "in denial" about, you say.
That's the biggest step : to recognize these unpleasant truths.

We WILL pray for your success -- be sure to give us some bulletins as you go along this tricky path.

[silverbeam]

Thanks all, here's an update:

I started the day without coffee, or anything else, because I was intending to go to church. It's over an hour drive and by the time my hastily scrawled directions failed (printer breakdown, or I would have used a map,) and found myself in the wrong part of the city with no idea how to correct my course, I REALLY wanted a coffee. So I parked my car, and with far less hesitation than I would have liked, entered a McDonald's 'restaurant' for the first time in a very long time and purchased a steaming cup of dark brown liquid that the illuminated menu called coffee. It must have contained caffeine at least because soon I entered that state I have come to describe as normal, and I was able to stand up and walk around without wondering how I was able to do so when I felt like I was almost dead. Cold turkey was never going to be an option, so I resolved to limit myself to one, or maybe two more cups for the day, spaced out over the day, with one more at midday and maybe one in the early evening.

About an hour later, halfway through my second cup, I remembered that I am giving up coffee and wasn't meant to be drinking any until much later in the day. I considered this and theorized that habits masquerade as recurring choices, but really, are an element of unconscious control by the demons we submit to. When we want to change them, we must remain conscious of our selves as much as we are able - neptic. Otherwise, those pseudo-choices, slipped in while we are distracted by some thing else, literally become the person we act out when we are not ourselves, but identify with the things we 'love' (as someone suggested above.)

I still had the midday cup, and felt I was back on track somewhat, but in the early afternoon, following an over-reaction on my part to the emotionally charged words of a friend, I gave up and made a two-cup pot that I'm finishing as I type. This time I kind of saw it as my friend. Quite sad really.

Before I began this post I was reminded that I had asked for the prayers of the readers, but failed to ask God for His help (which goes to show how christian I am) and really should not have expected anything much at all from myself anyway.

So while I drank a bit less than usual, I still learned something, and I'll return with another post when there is something more to report.

Goodnight

[Barbara]

Wow, I am impressed at your honest, Silverbeam !
And your awareness about the true nature of "habits".

I sometimes call this "demon- auto-pilot". It can be larger or smaller demons doing the directing, but we want to cut off
ALL THE AVENUES they use to try to sneak in once discarded [hopefully in the process of being discarded, if not completely resolved that
they HAVE TO GO !] -

I am convinced one of those huge tools they use to manipulate us is stuff like coffee. Cigarettes being a bad one too, probably way worse.

So if one pictures a sneaky demon lurking behind each cup of coffee, sneering at us for succumbing their tricks, we can hopefully easily
overcome that wish to even have the coffee.

Why don't you try the Pu-Erh tea, which has a strong taste but is cleansing to the system, not ruining it, the way coffee does ?

The other idea is about the use of essential oils which will clean out your liver and bolster your bloodstream [though the article does not
go into that much detail - it's meant as an overview]. Probably when something in the blood gets low, that sets into operation the
immediate wish for a cup of coffee.

If your blood and entire system are BALANCED< there would NOT be that craving, I guess.

Also the honest discussion about the friend's words driving you to seek consolation in the coffee are poignant.

Why not go back and speak to the friend to resolve it ? Usually some misunderstanding lies behind the facade of a difficult exchange.

At the least, go take some essential oils and try a cup of relaxing Chamomile Tea, instead ! Numi teas makes a nice Organic Chamomile.
Good before bed.
I cannot imagine that you drink coffee in the EVENINGS - you must have terrible sleep ? We all need a sound rest, so why not start by
cutting out coffee later in the day and trying Chamomile instead ?
Plus taking some drops of essential oils, like Lemon.