How quitting coffee has fueled my power to change my life for the better

The first thing I bought when I moved into my new flat was a beautiful Nespresso coffee machine, for which had I found a very prominent place and which quickly turned into a decoration object.

I used to be quite a coffee drinker, one in the morning for breakfast, one at 10 am with my colleagues, certainly one after lunch: Off course, I also did not want to miss to finish up a delicious dinner with a cup of coffee.

Always black and strong! Only in Spain did I enjoy drinking a “cortado”, which is an espresso with a little bit of milk.

I loved drinking coffee, loved the smell, the taste. I savored both the smooth and the rough texture. I liked the smell left over in my mouth; I enjoyed the foam on top. I especially loved the energy that my morning coffee gave me.  I was also under the impression that I needed this morning coffee to start my day and to be present and effective. After a coffee,, most of the time, I felt complete or at least I thought so. At times, it was more than just 3 or 4 coffees per day , and at times I could feel my stomach getting nervous, which was not always ideal. 

So what happened, why did I stop drinking coffee?

Last December, my daughter and I went to Brazil visiting my good friend Denise, who I met during my St. Jacob’s Walk . On the way to Brazil, I got sick and on the plane , I started to get a fever.  Once there, I had to stay in bed for 2 days.  During that time, Denise made me some wonderful herbal tea. Once recovered, we kept on drinking tea, water or fruit juice for breakfast… everything but no coffee.

After the holidays, I realized that I did not miss coffee at all. Likely, and maybe because I was ill when I started to wean myself off coffee, I did not suffer any of the typical side effects of stopping caffeine abruptly, or simply because I was not that addicted to caffeine. Often people complain about headache, fatigue, anxiety or difficulty concentrating, once they stop drinking coffee.  I did not experience any of these.

Anyway, we flew back home, and since then, I do not drink coffee.  Sometimes I do encounter strange reactions from people when I say I stopped drinking coffee: like really no coffee?

Very quickly, I saw the benefits of withdrawing caffeine from my list of drinks:

• better sleep,
• healthier smile,
• feeling calmer

I must say, I had played with the idea of stopping caffeine a few times already before, but that trip  and illness, and simply the fact that there was no coffee around, were a lot of signs from the universe and it became simply the perfect timing to give up something I felt addicted to over the years. So without having planned anything, I realize looking back, that I managed to give up, and just proved to myself that I can do it: I can stop with something I liked for a long time even though I knew it was not good for me.

This is also boosting my confidence, in being able to change deliberately, to do something I had not thought I would be able to do.

So just like quitting coffee, we do not have to continue doing things just for the sake of doing them. We do have the power to question the status quo in our lives. Just  realize what is good and less good for us and do something about it. Exchange negative behaviors with behaviors that have positive effects on us and our entourage. Moreover, we can do this, every day, no need for it to be New Year’s Eve or any big event.

I love the quote from Napoleon Hill ( an American author who was one of the earliest producers of the modern genre of personal-success literature).: ‘Do not wait; the time will never be “just right.’ I say: start from where you are, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along”.

This power of change is in us, let us rediscover it and change our lives, for the better every day!

Have you ever decided to quit something and how has it changed your life?

Be curious, be courageous, be bold and be yourself