Coffee, Routine, and Self-Improvement
All days usually begin the same.
The same routines and the same habits guide us to our respective days. We go about, realizing as we go, that it is only when memory kicks in, we start taking right from the left. Coffee is one such kick for most of us.
Some mornings I have my coffee, sip by sip, without any urgency to start the day, albeit late. Without worry, fear or stress, just numb lethargy or something else; and then my world wakes up for me. I’d recall important things, tasks to perform, duties, debts, personal problems, and the like. Then all these would go down, sip by sip, as they came, as I finish my cup.
These are mental programs which govern our behavior. We do the same things, follow the same patterns. That’s how hardwired our behavior is and that’s how rigid we have tied our notions to ourselves. It is a good question to ask – Are we actually in control of our lives, our bodies, our mind?
We try to jump start things too often. We get up and start running when getting late. We panic when we see stresses standing across the street, smiling as if welcome to cross over. We sink low at the thoughts of trauma. Our response is hardwired — to freeze to trauma triggers.
I am having an Americano in a porcelain cup as I am almost an espresso guy. Almost, and I am missing only by a few inches. Wow! That’s a big one for self respect. Speaking of self respect — I am gonna ask the barista girl to add more hot water to my cup. If I think about it now, maybe I have coffee for the sake of hot water only. If my esteem allows me some day, I may try to journal with a cup of matcha green tea.
The coffee beans are from Toffee Coffee Roasters-one Baba Budangiri blend. I waited for the coffee to cool down to better tell the taste and the aftertaste. Mouthfeel — what a sexed up word?!(and this cup of coffee has none!) It’s just bitter like vegetable leaves in my mouth. That’ll pass. The caffeine kick is enough to make me want to speak to myself. Good enough I’d say.
Now the pre coffee write up was a bit towards the body and mind. It’s after I’ve had all this coffee, a few good chats, and a few mails and queries that the enthusiasm is back again. I call this waking up exactly where I had signed off the previous day. No break, no stopping, only the snooze button and constant alarms. What to do about the rut of routine then? Let’s make a check list:
— Wake up a little earlier to get more time before getting late.
— Not getting late on purpose and watch what happens when we are on time.
— Think of the important things first and the urgent things only second.
— Now get the urgent things done.
— Coffee and journal?
There is enough self-help material available everywhere, the point here is to start from coffee.
Thanks, you are welcome.
Girinder Chauhan 2024
