Over the past few months I’ve been overwhelmed.

Everything has seemed like this huge massive mountain with the summit miles above, insurmountable.  And at times I’ve felt that the sides of that mountain were crashing down around me.

My friends will readily say that I never miss an opportunity for drama or a mini-performance.  And, in complete candor, they are mostly right.

However, this time there is no drama, no exaggeration.  I can truthfully say that during this past year there were days where something as simple as getting out of bed, showering, doing laundry, or paying a bill seemed to be a herculean task; it was just too much.

Getting healthy is not an easy thing to do and when you feel as I’ve felt over the past few months, well “not easy” can turn into “impossible.”  At least mentally.  The good news is that things are getting better.  Bit by bit progress is being made.  And for those of you out there who might be feeling the way I did, well, it really does get better and you can do it.   One tiny step at a time.

In a previous post (Getting Healthy is complicated and it takes time… …lots of time! ) I talked about how, when calculating how much time you really have in a week, you will discover that it isn’t as much time as you think.  And after you figure out just how little time you actually have you should feel proud of what you did manage to accomplish in a given week, not upset at what still remains to be done.

And in another post (Start of a New Journey…) I spoke about the importance of getting started, even if it is a tiny start.  We’ll continue now with that chain of thought with a concrete example:

My First Step

The thing I decided to change first was “Make my morning coffee more healthy.”

Easy you say?  Oh, silly you!  I’ve said before, but it bears repeating…  Everything is connected to EVERYTHING!  Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrggggghhhhhh!!!!!  At this moment, my inner tough guy male is fighting with my feminine side.  The guy part is trying to keep his boxes neatly separated and not let them touch or the contents mix.  My inner diva (feminine, of course) is saying “Well DUH, of course everything is related to everything.!”   Stay tuned for who wins.   What you say?  You don’t get the reference?  Oh grasshopper [insert horribly fake Asian accent] seeker of knowledge… just follow this link to learn about the “boxes”.  All will be explained:  (The difference between Men’s and Women’s Brains”)

Annnnnnyyyywaaaaaayyyy…  I do digress sometimes don’t I?  Sorry, can’t help it.  That’s the way my mind is wired.  Squirrel!

So, back to the coffee.  Simple huh?  Not so fast.  Here is that so called “simple” task broken down into it’s component parts:

• Coffee — Switch from whatever was on sale to organic 
  ☑ Check!  Yeppers, I now regularly get freshly ground organic coffee from Whole Foods.
  ..
• Sweetener — Switch from Sweet-n-Low to stevia 
  ☑  Check!  Yeppers, I now regularly get my Stevia at Whole Foods.  I used to have to get it a little health food place at $10 a box but now Whole Foods carries it at $6 a box.  If you haven’t tried stevia, you should.  It is a completely natural sweetener that is sweeter than sugar with zero calories and no chemicals…just the crushed leaf of the stevia plant.  Do a Google search for “stevia” and you’ll find lots of information on it. 
  ..
  
• Creamer — Switch from Half-and-Half to Silk Soy Creamer
  ☑  Check!  Yeppers.  I get it regularly from Whole Foods.
  ..
• Filters — Switch from generic bleached filters, mass produced with lord knows what chemicals bought at whatever store I happened to be in to non-bleached filters made from recycled paper.  Switch from the 10 cup size to the 4 cup size because I rarely make more than 4 cups in the morning.
  ☑ Check!  Ok, this is more of a “being environmentally conscious” kinda thing rather than a healthy thing.  But since I feel better by doing it I’m going to chalk this one up on the positive side of the scales.  Mental health and a positive outlook are part of the overall picture after all.
  ..
• Coffee Maker — Find one that was easier to use.
  ☑  Check!  For months, every time I went into any store that sold coffee pots I would take a quick look at what they offered.  My old pot had a broken thing-a-ma-bobber that blocks the coffee from pouring out and sizzling on the hot plate when you pull the pot to pour that oh so desperately needed first cup of coffee before the other 9 cups are finished brewing.    Also, to pour in the water, I had to pull the old pot to the edge of the cabinet and balance it on the very lip to get to the top because the overhead cabinets hung too low to allow me to do otherwise.    Finally I found one that had a swinging spout thingie on the front that allowed me to fill the reservoir without acting like a performer from Circque de Sole performing incredible feats of balance and skill while still pre-caffiene.
  ..

Still to do 😦

• Coffee Maker — I need to clean it, inside and out to remove the built up oils.
• Coffee Maker — I need to start using the timer and putting the grounds and water in the pot at night where I have more time, so that in the morning, where I am usually rushed, the coffee is already made and waiting when I wake up.

So, you can see that while “choose one thing, one simple thing” may sound easy, even a simple thing can be more complicated than you first think.   So, after you’ve picked your “one thing”, pick “one thing” inside your “one thing”.  Eventually all those little tiny “things” will add up.

When “coffee” is more than just “coffee”

So, friends and neighbors, each morning, I drink my cup of coffee with pride knowing that it isn’t just a “cup of coffee”, it is a step, an achievement, a goal made, and met.  It represents research into the calories and ingredients of Silk.  It represents time spent reading about Stevia and the negative effect that artificial sweeteners can have on your body.  It represents researching organics a decision that organic coffee, even though more expensive, is worth the cost because buying it means I’m doing good things for myself.  It means researching and finding out why the “cups” on the side of the coffee pot are not really “cups” at all.  It means a lot.

Nope, it isn’t just a cup of coffee.  It is a step toward a healthier me.

Related articles

• Getting Healthy is complicated and it takes time… …lots of time! (txcowboydancer.wordpress.com)
• Start of a New Journey… (txcowboydancer.wordpress.com)
• The difference between Men’s and Women’s Brains” (www.youtube.com)
• How many ounces are in a cup of coffee? (www.answers.com)