Diet Coke
A few days ago while I was at work, I started to crave a Diet Coke. It was in the middle of the afternoon and we had been busy for most of the day. I thought about how good a nice,room temp Diet Coke would taste. (When your in my line of business, you learn to drink everything at room temp.) It would taste so good and I was really thirsty.
It would be so easy. All I had to do was walk up to where the cash registers are and get one. I had some money in my drawer to pay for it. I would be gone from the pharmacy for less than five minutes. There really wasn't any reason why I couldn't satisfy this craving.
Actually, there is. There are a couple of reasons. The first one is that caffeine and I don't get along. One of the cardinal rules for someone who has chronic insomnia is no caffeine after noon. I also have a tremor in my hands that gets worse with caffeine. The second reason is that soda ( or pop or soft drinks) are flat out not good for you. It's bad for your teeth and bad for the rest of you. There are better things to drink when thirsty.
Well, I thought to my self, what about a caffeine free Diet Coke? I occasionally allow myself to have one of those or a caffeine free Diet Pepsi as a treat. I could get a caffeine free Diet Coke. They did keep single bottles of those in stock.
That wasn't what I wanted though. Caffeine free Diet Coke doesn't taste the same as regular Diet Coke. It's not that it tastes bad, but it is just not the same.
There was still a little insistent part of my brain lobbying for the Diet Coke. Just this one. One isn't going to hurt you. You can stop at one. So you'll miss out on some sleep tonight. It's not like you have a 12 hour shift tomorrow. Go ahead. Do it. It'll taste really,really good. If you don't go now you may not have a chance later.
I was trying hard to squelch that side of my brain. No, I'm not going to do this. I don't need it. I have to get up and go to Toastmasters tomorrow. I will need to be able to sleep tonight. I was determined not to give in.
The insistent side of my brain refused to be quiet. It now resorted to more drastic measures. Come on, do you really want to drink more lukewarm water? Wouldn't a Diet Coke taste so much better? It would perk you up. You must be getting tired. It's 2 pm and you've been here since 8 am. You deserve a treat. Just do it.
It had me there. I had finished my travel mug of tea before lunch and was getting tired of the plain water in my water bottle. I was tired. I'd been going nonstop since the pharmacy opened. I knew the Diet Coke would perk me up. Tempting,very tempting....
This was ridiculous. Here I am, a 42 year old woman arguing with myself. I was glad that people can't read thoughts otherwise my coworkers would think I'm nuts.
I took hold of myself and firmly and took a deep breath. No. I am not going to get a Diet Coke. Stop pestering me about it.
That worked for a little bit. I thought I heard a bit of grumbling, but no more attempts to persuade me to go get a Diet Coke.
Then I heard a small voice inside my head. Are you sure? Maybe just a can?
No! No Diet Coke. Do you understand that? No...Diet....Coke....
The insistent voice went quiet. I refilled my water bottle feeling quite virtuous. I had won this battle. Iron self control rules.
Then the voice popped up again.
How about some M&Ms?
It would be so easy. All I had to do was walk up to where the cash registers are and get one. I had some money in my drawer to pay for it. I would be gone from the pharmacy for less than five minutes. There really wasn't any reason why I couldn't satisfy this craving.
Actually, there is. There are a couple of reasons. The first one is that caffeine and I don't get along. One of the cardinal rules for someone who has chronic insomnia is no caffeine after noon. I also have a tremor in my hands that gets worse with caffeine. The second reason is that soda ( or pop or soft drinks) are flat out not good for you. It's bad for your teeth and bad for the rest of you. There are better things to drink when thirsty.
Well, I thought to my self, what about a caffeine free Diet Coke? I occasionally allow myself to have one of those or a caffeine free Diet Pepsi as a treat. I could get a caffeine free Diet Coke. They did keep single bottles of those in stock.
That wasn't what I wanted though. Caffeine free Diet Coke doesn't taste the same as regular Diet Coke. It's not that it tastes bad, but it is just not the same.
There was still a little insistent part of my brain lobbying for the Diet Coke. Just this one. One isn't going to hurt you. You can stop at one. So you'll miss out on some sleep tonight. It's not like you have a 12 hour shift tomorrow. Go ahead. Do it. It'll taste really,really good. If you don't go now you may not have a chance later.
I was trying hard to squelch that side of my brain. No, I'm not going to do this. I don't need it. I have to get up and go to Toastmasters tomorrow. I will need to be able to sleep tonight. I was determined not to give in.
The insistent side of my brain refused to be quiet. It now resorted to more drastic measures. Come on, do you really want to drink more lukewarm water? Wouldn't a Diet Coke taste so much better? It would perk you up. You must be getting tired. It's 2 pm and you've been here since 8 am. You deserve a treat. Just do it.
It had me there. I had finished my travel mug of tea before lunch and was getting tired of the plain water in my water bottle. I was tired. I'd been going nonstop since the pharmacy opened. I knew the Diet Coke would perk me up. Tempting,very tempting....
This was ridiculous. Here I am, a 42 year old woman arguing with myself. I was glad that people can't read thoughts otherwise my coworkers would think I'm nuts.
I took hold of myself and firmly and took a deep breath. No. I am not going to get a Diet Coke. Stop pestering me about it.
That worked for a little bit. I thought I heard a bit of grumbling, but no more attempts to persuade me to go get a Diet Coke.
Then I heard a small voice inside my head. Are you sure? Maybe just a can?
No! No Diet Coke. Do you understand that? No...Diet....Coke....
The insistent voice went quiet. I refilled my water bottle feeling quite virtuous. I had won this battle. Iron self control rules.
Then the voice popped up again.
How about some M&Ms?
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