Running Lines - cThe first step to recovery is giving up espresso

BENTONVILLE — I beamed with pride while pumping gas in Bentonville last week. I still feel a little leftover sense of accomplishment.

I had (reluctantly) passed up Starbucks, my ridiculously expensive habit.

Before moving back to Arkansas, I was living in Boulder, Colo., and going to school in downtown Denver.

My routine was to pull into the Starbucks right down my street on the way to the parking garage so I could enjoy my delicious beverage while I rode the bus 30 minutes into Denver and usually crammed for a chemistry test. Funny how I probably will never be in a profession where I will use that chemistry I learned, but you just never know where life might go.

Now that I think aboutit, pulling into that parking lot every morning usually resulted in me furious with the lack of parking and either waiting for a spot while yelling or trying to fit my car into some place like a pair of jeans two sizes too small. Lack of parking is pretty much a synonym for Boulder.

If you’re driving a car at all, you better be on your way to do some strenuous workout in the mountains or to meet up with your carpool or prepare to be shunned.

After the bus ride, I had a 15-minute walk through the skyscrapers of Denver and, surprise, there isanother Starbucks right on the way. Two actually - on the same street, at the same intersection, on opposite sides. Convenient! It would be silly to pass up a quick warm-up in my cup.

Science is not my thing.

I can do it, I just don’t love it.

I try not to do things I don’t love. Shopping for instance - if I don’t love it, I’m not buying it.

Dinner - if I don’t love it, I probably won’t order it again. In the process of simplifying life, it’s the only way to go.

When I finished my chemistry class I didn’t even need (obviously before my need to simplify kicked in), my brain would be tired. Really tired. Tired enough to need some coffee. I had another bus ride home, after all.

The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem, they say. I had a serious one. So, while I got a little teary passing up my sugar-free soy caramel Macchiato, I was greatly impressed by my own willpower. I have come such a long way since those days of threea-day caffeine fixes. I have broken my chain of habitual destructive behavior.

I’m so impressed with myself, in fact, that I think I deserve a treat. A nice, warm, frothy beverage.

I’m sure there’s a Starbucks on the way to where ever I will be going later today.

Cassi Lapp is the news clerk/staff writer of The Times of Northeast Benton County. A Colorado native, Lapp graduated from the University of Arkansas. She can be reached at [email protected].