Have you any addictions? Now there’s a personal question if ever I heard one. As my mother would say, “A policeman wouldn’t ask you that!”. Well I have no problem admitting to having one or two. Not of the heroin or crack cocaine variety you may be disappointed to note, something a lot tamer. Some of you who follow me on twitter or facebook may think it’s wine, but again you are wrong.
My true love in life is a cup of tea.
I can hear how disappointed you all are but that is a fact. In any given day I drink between 11 and 15 cups of tea, and I love every one of them. As I wrote here before, ‘The truth behind a cup of tea’, it is not just a cup of tea, it is so much more.
Here in Ireland it is the first thing we offer you if you are in shock, happy, just visiting,just about to leave, devastated, dumped, worried, gossiping or furious. There is nothing in life that sitting down with a cup of tea and a friend does not make a little bit easier. From my very first morning gulp, to my suppertime sip it is healing to my soul.
However here in Ireland the cup of tea is in danger. The younger generation do not view it as I and generations of Irish have done for so many years. The tradition is dying and on my watch. I have four children and not one of them drink tea. Many of my friends have also gone to the dark side… coffee! Expresso, latte, capuchino are their preferred choice. Not to mention the ones who arrive here and ask for a cup of hot water, that I can’t cope with at all.
Recently one of my children began to lecture me about my over indulgence in tea, ( I admitted to drinking eight cups and she was horrified, so I was glad I lied) I said I could take it or leave it if I had to, or at the very least I could cut back. She said I couldn’t, which really bugged me, and for some unknown reason I heard myself say,
“Yes I can, and for Lent that is what I am doing. I will not be drinking any more than four cups of tea per day, so there”
I cannot tell you what madness overcame me, but without doubt it is one of the most ridiculous, spur of the moment things, I have ever been foolish enough to say out loud. For those of you not of a Catholic religion, what I agreed to do, was to reduce my tea intake for all of Lent which any decent Catholic will tell you, lasts forty days and forty nights. Don’t ask me why they feel the need to clarify that Lent is both day and night, but they do, which sadly means I have no get out clause such as drinking after dark. We are currently on day two.
How is it going?
Well let me tell you now, things are not going at all well. I am like someone wandering the Sahara Desert I have such a thirst on me. I don’t just have it occasionally, but all the time. Even when I am drinking my permitted cup of tea I am doing so in a panic, all the while thinking “Oh no it’s nearly gone”. Today I’d a great idea, I substituted my normal mug for a rather large (okay huge) one, but it hasn’t worked. I can only liken the whole thing to passing a sign which says “keep off the grass” or “wet paint”, you just have to put your foot out or touch the wall. I have begun to wander past the tea bags and imagine making a cuppa. I expect it is only a matter of days before I begin to dream of it. My every moment (no I am not exaggerating) is about my next cup of tea.
I will try to continue, but I am not sure I will be able to. My children have each ‘gone off’ something for Lent, such as biscuits or chocolate and my OH has bravely told us he is off sweets. Off sweets I say! He never eats sweets the cheat, but he tells me he does and that his is a greater sacrifice as he will not be ‘indulging’ in any sweets at all, unlike me with my four cups of tea a day. Can you believe it!
Oh dear now I’m all worked up again. I can feel myself getting agitated, my fingers are definitely beginning to shake. the only cure… a cup of tea, but that would be number five… and it is only midday.
I will try for one more day, but more and more I am thinking that I will forget about this stupid challenge, surrender so to speak, and when questioned I will sit up on my high horse and say,
“I don’t believe in Lent anyway”.
photo credit: Pouring Tea at teany via photopin (license)
photo credit: Nazca via photopin (license)
My thoughts on a page. 
Love it!!! 🙂
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it. Oh and writing it down didn’t lessen my pain! 🙂
Put it in a glass and it’s not a cup of tea. Is that cheating? LOL
I like your thinking, the only thing is it’s hot tea and my gang here are like guards, pouncing when they hear the kettle boil! Desperate measures may lead to creative thinking though, good tip. 🙂
I grew up in a “coffee” world but my mother-in-law is a tea drinker… Over the last 11 years, we’ve been living in the same town and Emily got to spend time with her Nana and she developed the love of tea. All kind of teas which made my husband and I start drinking tea :). Not 11 cups a day and I still drink coffee but our tea collection is quite impressive and tea over here is making a come back. Check out David’s tea website… Those tea stores are starting to be everywhere…
Wow I just checked out that site, a whole new world. Maybe there is hope for the cup of tea after all. My daughter did wonder what she would do when she left home and called over for a visit. I told her I’ll never give up trying to convert her, or in years to come perhaps my grandchildren. It’s such a sociable thing to share. Thank you, for fresh hope. 🙂
I feel for you. Replace it by herbal teabags and see it as a way to discover something new, rather than deprivation. C’mon, if MM manages Dry January and is still going strong three weeks after it ended, you can keep off the tea. See it as a personal challenge, one day at a time. Good luck! PS. My dry January worked because my kids uttered those fateful words, “You’ll never manage it”….
I haven’t got over you doing dry January. The good news is I managed another day, but it is not easy. Mind you if my kids said to me I couldn’t give up wine, I’d say…. correct, now go tidy your room!
I’m a tea drinker too. Despite the much lower levels of caffeine compared to coffee, I still find I can get withdrawal symptoms if I don’t have any for a couple of days. I’m nowhere near as addicted as you though, 4 cups a day would be a lot for me! I had a friend who tried to cut down that much in college and she had to go back on it, the effects were so bad. So good luck! 🙂
I think another couple of days might kill me. I’ll keep trying though, and secretly hoping my kids feel so sorry for me they let me off. Enjoy a cuppa for me the next time you’re having one!
🙂
Why do you have to give up things for Lent? Of course, I’m from Seattle, which has the lowest per capita number of churches but highest number of coffee shops (and dog owners). So we’re unlikely to give up our caffeine in the name of religion and will be sipping our Starbucks as we walk our dogs on our way to hell.
It’s something they do before Easter, when everyone pigs out. For myself I’m not into religion, so it was as I said a spur of the moment thing.
Here in Ireland a lot of people would give up less healthy things for Lent, or something they really love, or alcohol.
I guess I was brain washed listening to them going on about it.
Lucky you, Note to self, Seattle sounds like a good place to live.
i admire your fortitude, i don’t believe in lent either, but my weakness is definitely anything that is a greasy, crunchy, salty carb. the best!
Unlike me beth you have no will power… says the one who is enjoying a glass of wine (it’s night time) and beginning to forget tea!
me too!
I too love my tea. Good luck with the challenge, but is it worth it? Why don’t you give up exercise for Lent? That sounds like a good one. hehe 🙂
Oh I think in real life we would be a great combination. That is what I should have done. Love it. BTW I made it through another day, I knew you’d want to know.
Good for you! I made it through another day of not working out…that’s not good though. 😦 Hope to get back on that horse tomorrow. I just had a cuppa tea – vanilla chai with agave and almond milk. Yum! I hope you’ve got one more cup left.
No but it’s Friday night so… wine. Hope tomorrow works out for you.
You can do it Tric! I recently gave up carbonated drinks (I love love love). And am relying solely on water, tea and coffee. DOing okay. And tea is NOT a dying drink. Tea shops are sprouting up over here.
I am amazed by those tea shops Coleen. It’s surely only a matter of time before they arrive here. Well done on giving up the drinks. At least mine is only short term. I did make it through another day, but it is not getting any easier.
I’ll have an extra cuppa for you today. You have a ‘pop’ for me. And we’ll both feel good for the other. 🙂
Lent is about sacrifice to remind us of the sacrifice made by Jesus. He went into the desert for 40 days and 40 nights prior to his crucifixion, death and rebirth. When He came out of the desert again, it must’ve been a week or longer till His crucifixion. Why does Lent end on Good Friday then?
Thank you Dave. I’ll keep trying.
Coffee is my addiction of choice, and nothing would convince me to give it up for Lent!
I somehow have always put giving up coffee right up there with alcohol or cigarettes. I have now added tea to that list, well 11 cups of tea.
You can always go back to your usual tea and take the approach of adding some other spiritual practice instead of giving up something. Spend some extra time reading Scripture/other spiritual books or praying, meditate, donate time or money to a charity, write notes of gratitude or remembrance to friends and family, with lots more possibilities that may come to mind from your own circumstances. Then you can tell people that rather than giving up something for Lent, you are instead adding even more good things to your life in service to God and neighbor.
Where were you Joanne when my daughter challenged me, I would never have said I’d give up tea! Next year, or if I ‘change my mind’ I will have to have a whole rethink. You’ll be happy to know I made it through another day.
Slainte Tric as I raise my cupeen of tae , no seriously though it must be tough fair play to you , coffee is my addiction and I really think It would be a very hard challenge to curtail my coffee to 4 cups a day . and my cigarette , I actually feel ashamed to say it I am a smoker , and it disgusts me when I consciously think about my smoking , need to work on this really sooner rather than later as it goes against everything I dream of being . Maybe someone may set up a blog solely about becoming a happy non smoker now that would be a help I think . Happy Days Tric not long till Easter Sunday. xxx
Are you allowed to substitute herbals?
Ha, that would be a good way out of it, but I’m only craving the real thing. I’m not sure how long we are into it now and I’m coping with about six a day, but still wake up every day aspiring to four cups.
I know it’s not great, but better than what I used to take.