Tea or Coffee?

So, basically when mum asked me this Friday morning, “what do you want to drink?”, I, after a second pause of emm said, “tea, please. Thank you.” And that was what I thought I’d like to have to start the day, exactly the same as yesterday, the day before yesterday and many days before that. A cup of tea has always been the best. Make it a bit bitter and add two tea-spoons of sugar then this brown transparent liquid will immediately give you such a tranquilizing effect. I can’t remember when I first started this, but long ago, when I was a teen, I used to loathe breakfast and always went for a cup of tea mum had made me instead. And so the habit went on. Now years after, even when I eventually can enjoy my breakfast again without a following nausea, I truly can’t have my breakfast without a cup of tea. This has turned into a compulsory for my 'daily breakfast curriculum'.

But it was a bit different this morning. Ten minutes after that stingy mum-and-daughter conversation occurred, I dragged myself into the kitchen. There laid on the big old rectangle wooden table two different cups- one full with dark brown tea and the other full with black coffee. I carefully took a seat right before them and examined those cups which now I’d like to call a two-exclusive-morning option. In what felt like a whole minute, I was considering whether I should just go with my first choice which was tea, or be spontaneous by having the black coffee. Next, in a matter of second, I had found myself delightedly sipping the latter. 

Hey, look what I just did! I normally have a cup of tea to complete my ordinary breakfast, but this morning I didn’t. In this bright Friday morning I had the black coffee instead. And it’s seriously nice, it’s just as relaxing. To be honest, I think it’s even more pleasing. Then I took my time to contemplate life. How it truly is full of surprises! And to enjoy that, we, humans, simply need to go extraordinary, to simply break the routine. Imagine yourself in such a long tiring voyage with the company of nobody, sooner or later you’ll get bored or sick of the same old view. Apart from how wonderful it might be in the beginning. But then, in a certain time, you’ll come across random things which are completely out of the map. You’ll either meet the pirates with its giant ship or an uninhabited remote island with its beautiful scenery. And if you are lucky enough, you’ll probably come across that very map leading to a hidden treasure. Grab it and be a treasure hunter.

One of the rules to enjoy life to its fullest, I believe, is how we challenge ourselves with new option. If you think you can sing, then encourage yourself to do it at the graduation party. If you like travelling, then go to somewhere you've never been to before. Or, if you never drink black coffee, then why not try to have it? You might surprise yourself at how nice it tastes in your mouth. Well, life of course isn’t as simple as that. Yet sometimes we’ve got to take the risk. As Socrates says, “Every action has its pleasure and its price.” In order to gain the joy, there is always something to sacrifice. One who chickens out of the new option, then his life is nothing but a programmed machine. This morning I picked the black coffee, and so I gave up the tea. Still I didn’t feel bad at all as now I know some other drink that can tranquil me, apart from tea. And what if I didn’t like the coffee? I’ve got nothing to lose. At least I would know coffee is not a part of me. Real life, indeed, equalizes the routine and spontaneity.

Vaguely, I heard dad crying, “where’s my coffee?”. I coolly replied, “Why don’t you try the tea? It’s just as nice.” Silence followed. Not long after, I could hear a gulp of dark brown tea pouring down someone’s throat.