Weak coffee

I started drinking coffee my freshman year of college. It was only out of necessity, and it took me about 3 months before I decided that I liked the taste. Pretty soon I was hooked, though, and "needed" the caffeine. Oh, and did I mention that I used to drink really, really strong coffee? By "strong" I mean that I used 3 times the amount of grounds recommended. And it tasted normal to me. I used it as a crutch to get me through sleep-deprived weeks and months, which made up the bulk of my college career. Now that I'm no longer a full-time student, I don't technically "need" coffee like I used to - actually, I question whether it was ever necessary in the first place. Maybe so, maybe not.

A few months ago I realized that I no longer like the taste of coffee, at least not the way that I was making it. A few weeks ago I started thinking more intentionally about what I eat and drink and why. I realized that I used coffee and other forms of caffeine as excuses to treat my body badly (i.e., not get the rest that I need). And I told myself that it was ok, because millions of Americans do the same thing every day. But I don't want to use coffee as a crutch any more, so I decided to start making weak coffee - and by "weak," I mean that I use the recommended amount of grounds per cup of water. It's amazing: I actually like the taste of coffee again. I enjoy it. It's a small thing, but it's an intentional thing, and for me it's a good step forward in choosing health over crazy living.