Blood:Water Mission; I Love My Friends
03/26/09 11:59 AM Filed in: Stories
| Indiscriminate
Ladies and gentlemen, I
have a significant announcement to make. No,
I'm not engaged, but close. Actually, it has
nothing to do with marriage or relationships, unless
you consider my relationships with carbonated
beverages more than just the meaningless flings that
I consider them.
No, my announcement is that today, March 26th, 2009, is the twenty-fifth day I have gone without the consumption of a soda. Even more significant, without the consumption of a caffeinated drink. More significant still, I haven't drank anything except water in the last twenty-five days! If this doesn't seem significant enough to you, take into account that I will not be partaking in The Drink for another fifteen days.
Still not significant? Okay, maybe you don't understand my insatiable thirst for caffeine. I love it. I have no shame in admitting that I may or may not be addicted to it. (I guess by the way I sidestepped that question, I may have some shame, but you get the point.) I love Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Cherry Coke, Dr. Pepper, coffee, Latte (or "German Coffee," if you prefer), Macchiato, Chai Tea ... Really, if it has caffeine, I'll probably drink it. And that list doesn’t even include Energy Drinks, which I also enjoy (if they aren’t the nasty tasting ones, anyway).
That's just caffeinated content. I also love Orange Juice, smoothies, and those delicious lizard juices (that sounds weird) by SoBe. On average, considering all the possibilities for caffeine and the fact that soda, coffee, and tea are all free in Chuck's, I ingest ample amounts of caffeine per day. Numerous bottles. Many glasses. Several cups.
So, why the sudden urge to cut off my energy source Cold Turkey for forty days? Well, it's not for Lent, if that's what you're thinking. But really, it is. But it's actually not. Observe.
With proceeds going toward Blood:Water Mission, this non-Lent initiative is to raise awareness, in America specifically, of the fact that we have so many choices. Do I want water at this very moment, or do I want a soda? If I want a soda, which kind? I have dozens to choose from. In America, we're blessed with plenty; in many third-world countries, children have only one choice: water. And that water may not even be healthy, and it certainly isn't filtered and coming through a faucet. The forty days is offset from the Lent holiday by two days, presumably because they were attempting to appeal not just to the religious crowd but also to people who simply wanted to help make a difference around the world. So though it's technically not for Lent, it's practically the same thing. Call it what you will, we've given up drinking anything other than water for forty days.
Kylee the Magnificent, Emilie the Elegant, and I decided we wanted to do this together, so we have been. A few other stragglers from our sphere of influence have joined the bandwagon along the way. Despite the controversy that smoothies may or may not be a drink, we've decided to avoid them as well since we have them regularly too. At the end of the forty days, the three of us are celebrating our completion of this task with smoothies. Toasts and cheers will be made.
We're not just abstaining from anything that doesn't resemble two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, we're also saving the money that we would normally spend on these drinks and donating it to Blood:Water Mission. $1 will provide water for an African child for one year. It seems hard to believe, but it's true.
The other day, I hid myself from the usual crowd in an attempt to study for an exam I had the following day. I needed to do well on this exam (and, by the way, I did), so from about four in the afternoon to two in the morning, I studied, jotting notes down here and there and working through problems. With the exceptions of Dinner, a few five minute breaks here and there to watch SNL videos on Hulu, and the walk back to my dorm, I was studying fervently for all ten hours.
I was a little stressed and had the onsets of a headache at around nine when the suave Ryan and the beautifully diverse Kristi appeared at my side. I say "appeared" because they literally did and caught me quite off guard. I was looking down, intently writing in my notebook, when all of a sudden I was startled to find a darkly-colored face peering over my left shoulder. When I realized it was Kristi, I gave her a backwards hug, which is slightly more awkward than you might think while sitting in a chair. Luckily, she rides pretty low to the ground, so it wasn't actually that awkward. At this point, Ryan pushed his arm forward into my face and exclaimed, "Here, we brought you this!" with a big smile on his face.
I blinked a few times, stared up and Ryan and Kristi who were both wearing big grins, and back at what Ryan was holding. I was still a little shaken by the headache, study overload, and surprising appearance of two of my favorites, but the fact that Ryan had put a can of Pepsi in my face didn't help either. I think it took me a little while to respond, because inwardly I really wanted that Pepsi, and I was trying to think of some way to justify drinking it. I mean, there it was: a free Pepsi. I hadn't seen a can or a bottle in over twenty days, and the aluminum looked so deliciously inviting.
"I ... Can't ... Have that ..." I managed to sputter out.
I felt bad saying it because I really wanted that Pepsi, and I knew they had only brought it to me because they knew how much I loved Pepsi and that I was studying for an exam, but I have principles, dang it! Forty days! When I start something, I simply must follow it through or I won't be able to live with myself. Sadly, I am forever required to live with myself, so this forty days will not be broken in a moment of weakness!
Poor Ryan and Kristi tried to apologize because they had forgotten all about the forty days of water thing, and they told me to keep the Pepsi in my fridge until the forty days were up. Yah ... Right ... I love you guys, but that just wasn't going to happen. Ryan, being the considerate person that he is, placed the Pepsi on the floor in a prominent place near me. It just sat there, staring at me, torturing me for another hour or so. Emilie, a fellow Pepsi lover like myself, showed up, I told her the story, and she "hid" the Pepsi (which consisted of putting it under the couch next to us so we wouldn't have to look at it. We both wanted it.)
Even though sometimes my friends forget that I'm fasting from a particular substance, I love them all because they’re still considerate enough to bring me something I love when they know I’m stressing out :). So, despite your silly forgetfulness Kristi and Ryan, I still love you both. It's the though that counts. Thanks for thinking of me!
I will make it these forty days. Not only will I then be able to help provide many African children with clean water for a year, I'll also have done something good for myself!
No, my announcement is that today, March 26th, 2009, is the twenty-fifth day I have gone without the consumption of a soda. Even more significant, without the consumption of a caffeinated drink. More significant still, I haven't drank anything except water in the last twenty-five days! If this doesn't seem significant enough to you, take into account that I will not be partaking in The Drink for another fifteen days.
Still not significant? Okay, maybe you don't understand my insatiable thirst for caffeine. I love it. I have no shame in admitting that I may or may not be addicted to it. (I guess by the way I sidestepped that question, I may have some shame, but you get the point.) I love Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Cherry Coke, Dr. Pepper, coffee, Latte (or "German Coffee," if you prefer), Macchiato, Chai Tea ... Really, if it has caffeine, I'll probably drink it. And that list doesn’t even include Energy Drinks, which I also enjoy (if they aren’t the nasty tasting ones, anyway).
That's just caffeinated content. I also love Orange Juice, smoothies, and those delicious lizard juices (that sounds weird) by SoBe. On average, considering all the possibilities for caffeine and the fact that soda, coffee, and tea are all free in Chuck's, I ingest ample amounts of caffeine per day. Numerous bottles. Many glasses. Several cups.
So, why the sudden urge to cut off my energy source Cold Turkey for forty days? Well, it's not for Lent, if that's what you're thinking. But really, it is. But it's actually not. Observe.
With proceeds going toward Blood:Water Mission, this non-Lent initiative is to raise awareness, in America specifically, of the fact that we have so many choices. Do I want water at this very moment, or do I want a soda? If I want a soda, which kind? I have dozens to choose from. In America, we're blessed with plenty; in many third-world countries, children have only one choice: water. And that water may not even be healthy, and it certainly isn't filtered and coming through a faucet. The forty days is offset from the Lent holiday by two days, presumably because they were attempting to appeal not just to the religious crowd but also to people who simply wanted to help make a difference around the world. So though it's technically not for Lent, it's practically the same thing. Call it what you will, we've given up drinking anything other than water for forty days.
Kylee the Magnificent, Emilie the Elegant, and I decided we wanted to do this together, so we have been. A few other stragglers from our sphere of influence have joined the bandwagon along the way. Despite the controversy that smoothies may or may not be a drink, we've decided to avoid them as well since we have them regularly too. At the end of the forty days, the three of us are celebrating our completion of this task with smoothies. Toasts and cheers will be made.
We're not just abstaining from anything that doesn't resemble two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, we're also saving the money that we would normally spend on these drinks and donating it to Blood:Water Mission. $1 will provide water for an African child for one year. It seems hard to believe, but it's true.
The other day, I hid myself from the usual crowd in an attempt to study for an exam I had the following day. I needed to do well on this exam (and, by the way, I did), so from about four in the afternoon to two in the morning, I studied, jotting notes down here and there and working through problems. With the exceptions of Dinner, a few five minute breaks here and there to watch SNL videos on Hulu, and the walk back to my dorm, I was studying fervently for all ten hours.
I was a little stressed and had the onsets of a headache at around nine when the suave Ryan and the beautifully diverse Kristi appeared at my side. I say "appeared" because they literally did and caught me quite off guard. I was looking down, intently writing in my notebook, when all of a sudden I was startled to find a darkly-colored face peering over my left shoulder. When I realized it was Kristi, I gave her a backwards hug, which is slightly more awkward than you might think while sitting in a chair. Luckily, she rides pretty low to the ground, so it wasn't actually that awkward. At this point, Ryan pushed his arm forward into my face and exclaimed, "Here, we brought you this!" with a big smile on his face.
I blinked a few times, stared up and Ryan and Kristi who were both wearing big grins, and back at what Ryan was holding. I was still a little shaken by the headache, study overload, and surprising appearance of two of my favorites, but the fact that Ryan had put a can of Pepsi in my face didn't help either. I think it took me a little while to respond, because inwardly I really wanted that Pepsi, and I was trying to think of some way to justify drinking it. I mean, there it was: a free Pepsi. I hadn't seen a can or a bottle in over twenty days, and the aluminum looked so deliciously inviting.
"I ... Can't ... Have that ..." I managed to sputter out.
I felt bad saying it because I really wanted that Pepsi, and I knew they had only brought it to me because they knew how much I loved Pepsi and that I was studying for an exam, but I have principles, dang it! Forty days! When I start something, I simply must follow it through or I won't be able to live with myself. Sadly, I am forever required to live with myself, so this forty days will not be broken in a moment of weakness!
Poor Ryan and Kristi tried to apologize because they had forgotten all about the forty days of water thing, and they told me to keep the Pepsi in my fridge until the forty days were up. Yah ... Right ... I love you guys, but that just wasn't going to happen. Ryan, being the considerate person that he is, placed the Pepsi on the floor in a prominent place near me. It just sat there, staring at me, torturing me for another hour or so. Emilie, a fellow Pepsi lover like myself, showed up, I told her the story, and she "hid" the Pepsi (which consisted of putting it under the couch next to us so we wouldn't have to look at it. We both wanted it.)
Even though sometimes my friends forget that I'm fasting from a particular substance, I love them all because they’re still considerate enough to bring me something I love when they know I’m stressing out :). So, despite your silly forgetfulness Kristi and Ryan, I still love you both. It's the though that counts. Thanks for thinking of me!
I will make it these forty days. Not only will I then be able to help provide many African children with clean water for a year, I'll also have done something good for myself!
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