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As always, I came to an epiphany about my life whilst procrastinating; it was 3PM, and I didn’t have a headache.

Now, I bet you’re wondering, “Why would you expect to have a headache?” It’s a little strange, but I’ve been having these headaches every afternoon for the past week. I had no idea, but I was accidentally breaking an addiction. Now, I wouldn’t be totally honest to you, my readers (hi Mom), if I told you I didn’t have an addiction. Caffeine addiction is (was!) one of my vices.

So I like to have a cup of coffee with my breakfast, sue me! In fact, one of my most relaxing times of the day is breakfast. I can get up, hopefully not too early, have my first meal of the day, read some news, and nurse a cup ‘o joe. Once the caffeine hit my bloodstream I was able to function as a normal person in society. This relaxed pace is something that I left behind when I came to college. Gone are the days where I have enough time in the morning. “Breakfast time” is now around ten minutes.

With this routine, it’s really hard to sit and enjoy a nice cup of coffee. It’s hard to suck down the boiling crap that the dining hall passes of as coffee in ten minutes. After many failed attempts, and many a half cup later, I decided to switch to Mountain Dew for my daily dose of heart-pumping caffeine.

This didn’t last long. Shortly after realizing how many calories an extra soda a day was, I ditched that plan. I then moved to the “Coffee After Class” plan which consisted of getting a cup after my afternoon classes. I had a headache in the morning for the first few days, but my body eventually adjusted to the delayed energy boost.

One day I had a slight change of schedule and was forced to skip my afternoon coffee run. This was unknowingly the beginning of the end…

I’m one of those people where something out of sight is out of mind. I’m also a creature of habit. If something in my daily routine is shifted then I just think that it’s going to be shifted forever. Missing this afternoon cup ‘o joe just made me never think about going to the coffee shop again.

As of right now, I haven’t had any coffee for about a week. I’ve noticed that my overall energy level has increased, and that I’m waking up earlier. Also, the headaches are almost completely gone. On the long term, this is probably better for my health as well. Also, when I actually need caffeine to work, like studying or writing a paper, it will be more effective.

This isn’t to say that I’m never going to have another cup of coffee again. It’s just that it has been excluded from my daily routine. I am working on not being addicted to caffeine.

My addiction will most likely return this summer when I’ll have more time in the morning, but for now, it’s gone…

As I was washing my face in the bathroom I looked up, face covered in soap, and paused for a moment. In my head, details about my entire life, choices, and opportunities flashed before my eyes. All I could think is: “whoa.” I was in awe. Usually when doing monotonous tasks like laundry I think about my day or small things, but this was different. Usually, I would think “Wow, that girl at lunch today was kinda cute” or “Brandon said the funniest thing in the lounge tonight” but this time I got the whole picture. All of my choices and actions have led me to where I am now: attending a university and having one of the best times of my entire life. Were all of them good choices? Probably not. If I tried harder on that one mathematics test junior year would I be here? Who knows? Could I be having a better time in some other place? Who cares! What matters to me right now is that I am happy, and all in all, I think I am.

With great thoughts comes a great conversation…

Around 1:00AM this morning I found myself in the lounge, economics materials on the desk, with my good friend Ben. Ben and I usually have great conversations about tons of things, but I think this one stands above the rest. We started off by talking about a floormate who decided to take a job which would require him to give up his weekends to go work in another city. Naturally, my laziness told me that if put in his position I wouldn’t take it. My current work load is enough, and adding another commitment would be a mess. After talking with Ben, I discovered that there is much more to it than that. My mother is a woman wise beyond her years and she told me something that shifted the way that I was thinking about life. I was talking to her about my job on campus, and how my boss wanted me to work more hours if it as possible. My mother was opposed to this. She said “you have the rest of your life to work, enjoy yourself while you can.” That statement rocked my world for a moment. It made perfect sense. Why sacrifice fun to work your ass off, when you know that the rest of your life is going to be working your ass of? As a college student, I have four years of what most call “the best time of your life” ahead of me. Do I want to spend that time working? Hell no.

So yeah, I’ve realized that my online blog presence has been pretty nonexistent lately. I finally have my head on straight at college so hobbies are going to gradually begin filling my free time again.

Keep your eyes on the feeds for some new stuff soon! As always, stay classy.

Welcome to yet-another redesign of ChrisBecker.info. I made this new design because I was sick of the root of my domain going to my blog. This is my first 100% custom XHTML and CSS design, so bare with me; it’s definitely going to improve over time as I learn more about web design and web programming.

Notice a lack of updates? It’s due to the fact that I suddenly fell ill upon getting to NYC.

My family and I arrived in the city around 5 after fighting through bad weather and crazy Jersey traffic. There was a layer of fog so thick that the picturesque city skyline was hidden. After participating in the evening festivities I fell dreadfully ill and was in bed for the next two days. I spend the majority of my vacation in a bed! All of this was tolerable, because I was in New York.

On our boat trip on the first night, we got to see the Statue of Liberty with thick fog! (Blob of Liberty)