Let’s talk about chocolate.  I like eating chocolate.  It’s kind of addictive, it gives me a little bit of a sugar rush, and there are enough different kinds to keep it interesting pretty much anytime I have a sweet tooth.  The problem with chocolate is if I eat too much of it I feel awful.  We’ve all probably made that mistake as kids on Halloween.  And maybe once or twice since then.  It’s a fine line between a tasty treat and a real problem.

 

On the other hand, I REALLY like coffee.  I like the taste of coffee as much as I like the taste of chocolate, but coffee makes me feel good for a long time after drinking it.  The caffeine does wonders for my productivity, mood, and motivation.  When I first started trying to get into coffee in high school I never craved it.  But before too long I was hooked.

 

This is a thinly veiled metaphor.  I probably don’t even have to explain it.  When we have free time, the easy things we default to (Netflix, social media, drinking) are like chocolate.  They’re fine in moderation.  They make us feel good for a while.  But if we only partake in chocolate, we’re going to feel pretty bad about ourselves.

 

A THING is like coffee.  At first, we’re probably not going to obsess over it.  We may even have to teach ourselves to like it.  But the more we stick with it, the more we’re going to realize we love the way it makes us feel.  Eventually, we’ll crave it.  We’ll consume more coffee and cut back on chocolate.  

 

I wrote this while drinking coffee.  But after I’m done working I’m probably going to go find some M&Ms.  Balance is important.