I made a pretty clear choice when I was a teacher: at the beginning of the semester, I placed a soda can on my desk as a reminder that I wasn’t going to drink it.
Every teacher I knew brought in either a bunch of coffee or a big cup of soda to work every day.
People at work are surprised I don’t drink coffee: “How do you get by?”
“I’ve never known any different.”
And I don’t want to.
I stay alert because I want to.
Many days I sleep in longer than I want to. The warm draw of the bed is nice. But I’m a rational actor. I choose. Not the bed. The bed influences, but does not act. I act.
Today (and this is still in the minority) I got out of bed and started typing (elsewhere before here).
As I typed, I became more awake. As I typed, I had a better idea what my day would be like.
I choose.
Waking up is a choice. Getting out of bed is a choice. Turning your brain on is (surprisingly) a choice. Staying alert is a choice.
Staying in a warm bed because the bed influences you is choosing not to choose. Letting the chemical wake you up (or keep you alert) is also forfeiting choice.
I don’t imaging this will convince anyone to forego their caffeine fix. But if you do, you’ll get to practice making hard choices for a long time: you’ve been acted upon so long by the chemical that it’s affected your body and brain and it will take a while to get back to the equilibrium that can be enjoyed.