This is the biggest addiction scourge known to the western world - and you probably have it too.
Have you guessed it yet?
Caffeine.
Ever been jittery, or irritable, or downright cranky in the morning before you get your first shot?
Or worse, that pounding headache, or even migraine, if you don't get your first cup early enough?
Yep, those are withdrawal symptoms.
Why not though? Why not get this lovely hit every morning, every afternoon, when it's so cheap?
Now that's a philosophical question that I would like to look at more closely.
What could possibly be wrong with getting your neuronal stimulation through ingesting "uppers"?
Or to phrase it differently, what could you be missing out on by doing that?
Let's look at why and when you use it. The first few times you take it, the hit is almost overwhelming. You have this endless energy, so much so that you even literally shake. Your mind feels clearer, and sharper.
Over time though, like any highly addictive substance you need to take more and more to achieve the same effect, and soon all you're doing is drinking coffee to ward off the withdrawals. The kick doesn't come anymore, unless you multiply the dosage. Hence the offering of your local dealer: double and even triple shots.
Soon if you don't take care, you're drinking 5 cups a day, and barely feeling any effect. That's a few thousand dollars a year that you spend just on avoiding withdrawals.
That's tonnes of landfill of disposable paper cups, plastic lids and metal coffee pods. That's financing the slavery of coffee farmers who get only a pittance for their back-breaking work (unless you systematically buy fair-trade). Or it's financing the indecent profits of Coca-Cola, Pepsi and co.
I wouldn't mind it so much if in the end, we were not just feeding an addiction, avoiding withdrawals, trying to keep ourselves on the normal level, the stimulation effect non-existent by now because we chase a high that's not achievable any more due to addiction (in the same way heroin-addict will chase the memory of the first "hit" at the beginning, and soon only try to alleviate the withdrawal symptoms).
I wouldn't mind it so much if it didn't make it easier for us to put up with a boring job or not enough sleep, thereby taking away our motivation for finding more interesting work, or more hours to sleep.
My argument is that like any addiction, it is pointless. After the early effect, we only get an imaginary effect from it, namely overcoming symptoms that were created by its ingestion in the first place...
If it's the ritual you crave, by all means, take a break and have a cup of (non-caffeinated) tea - and don't forget the 2-minute mindfulness exercise that goes with it!
***Disclaimer: I have battled my own caffeine addiction for years - mostly being "clean" but relapsing every couple of years...