The Third Day

This is the third day of no Starbucks. I can't really say that I'm missing it. I went there last night with my mom, who needed to buy a gift card. In a way, it was a sort of test to see if I could resist the temptation.

I walked in and felt...nothing. I just looked around indifferently and wasn't tempted to abandon my decision at all. I'd already done it for two days and I'd told all these people about it; I wasn't going to give up after two days! I stood firmly.

The barista recognized me. "All coffee-d out for today?" she asked. I smiled and laughed. I didn't exactly want to get into my giving up Starbucks for a week with someone who worked there. Then I thought that maybe this is a sign that this really is something good to do. After all, people that work there recognize me! As if my decision wasn't already firm enough, that made it firmer.

So far, I haven't cheated and I don't plan to. Before this, I'd always been fairly sure that I'm a strong person who sticks to my convictions, but now I'm completely sure. Some would laugh: You're just giving up Starbucks for a week; how can that make you discover anything about yourself? But it has. Simplicity, at least in one aspect of life, is definitely beneficial in order for someone to figure out the fundamentals of themselves. No matter how contradictory it seems, when something is taken away, something is revealed as well.