Voluntary Abstinence — August 2017

I am trying to implement Stoic practices since January 2017. I have failed more times than I’ve been successful. I started reading The Daily Stoic since the beginning of the year, but been stumbling to read it since April 2017.There are some good habits that I would like to learn, and there are some habits which I’d like to get rid of. Sometimes, it might be difficult to figure out which of our habits are the bad ones.

Wikipedia defines a bad habit as a negative behaviour pattern. I found a simple but the most apt definition in The Daily Stoic that says: Addiction is when we have lost the freedom to abstain.

That explanation is simple yet so profound. There are so many activities in the day that we do without conscious control. One of the biggest bad habit I have right now is my addiction towards chai (tea). Usually I drink around 5–6 cups of chai even though I might not want to because the habit triggers are so ingrained in me that I have to get up at certain intervals, step out of the office or home and have a cup of tea! Although I know that I don’t necessarily need tea to work properly, I just can’t focus unless I have one.

So for the month of August 2017, my goal is to drink not more than 2 cups of tea.

My reason for doing this?

“We must give up many things to which we are addicted, considering them to be good. Otherwise, courage will vanish, which should continually test itself. Greatness of soul will be lost, which can’t stand out unless it disdains as petty what the mob regards as most desirable.”

- Seneca

So instead of giving so much power to chai, I am focusing on my will power and the ability to choose things. Because I don’t want to allow this tiny compulsion clutter my clarity.

I’m embedding my daily progress. If you don’t see it updated or if you see me not able to stay on track, let me know what changes helped you kick out your bad habits if you had any.

Indrajeet Deshpande

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Old School. Evolving Musician. Asocial Media. Bad Jokes. I am not my thoughts.

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