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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Allen Carr
Read between
December 28, 2021 - January 1, 2022
Paradoxically, the impression that it provides a boost comes from the reality that caffeine creates a low. All the time that you are experiencing caffeine withdrawal, you are being kept in a low, fidgety, lethargic state. By taking more of the drug, you receive a brief boost as the new dose of caffeine temporarily curbs the withdrawal.
What do people say when they’re doing their drug?
.h1
When we’re not consuming caffeine, we are withdrawing from it. In fact we’re withdrawing from it even when we are consuming it because, as previously explained, it never completely relieves the slightly low physical state of emptiness and restlessness which it creates.
Conflict
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This mental conflict is a hallmark of addiction. It creates a tug of war of fear that far outweighs the mild, physical withdrawal.
Power of brainwashing
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Scientists are discovering that it is far, far worse for us than we previously thought. In fact, it is hard to think of a single part of you that is not seriously and adversely affected by caffeine: it poisons every single part of your body, it creates depression and mood swings, and of course, as with all drug addiction, the slavery to it crushes your spirit.
You already know that caffeine is making you suffer. That’s why you bought the book. Caffeine is doing plenty TO you. What may well be news to you is that it is doing nothing FOR you. It doesn’t help you relax or concentrate, it doesn’t inspire you, it doesn’t even give you real energy. What it does do, is put you in the state of body and mind that you would be in if a man-eating tiger suddenly appeared in the room.
One of the modern equivalents of the dangerous tiger is the cut-throat business takeover. Would caffeine help you to have the edge in such a situation? Only if you gave it to your adversary!
Interestingly, the craziest, most disorganized web of all was not, as you might expect, that of the spider on LSD or cannabis, but that of the spider on caffeine.
In fact, it is a triple low that you experience, and mistake for normal, in the morning. Your “normal” is in fact the low of withdrawal, compounded by the low of your mental craving for the drug, compounded in turn by the depleted state of mind, body and spirit that every addict suffers and mistakes for normal.
The reality is that we are a nation of burnt-out, exhausted caffeine junkies who have forgotten what it is like to enjoy genuine energy, and mistake a radical shock to the system for the real thing.
So why do we do it?
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We’re brainwashed into believing that it’s something we need as part of our everyday life; that any time we feel down or tired, there’s a magic potion that will make us feel better. The big monster is lurking in our minds.
What about the pleasure?
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In fact, we never enjoy the taste which is why most people tend to obliterate it with additives. Eventually, we build up a tolerance to the foul taste, so we can get the drug into our body with the least aggravation.
As the food and drink giants bombard us with sugar, salt, caffeine and processed carbs, they not only make us increasingly obese but also ensure that we keep coming back for more by hooking us on their junk.
Caffeine withdrawal
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In fact, if you’re in the right frame of mind, you can actually enjoy the purging process.
Some people report feelings of mild depression and it’s important to realize that this only occurs if you feel you’re missing out on something, if you cling to the illusion that you’re being deprived of a genuine pleasure or crutch.
If you’re happy to be free and realize that there’s nothing to give up so that you’re not making any sacrifice whatsoever, then you can actually enjoy the process of escaping.
The cost of coffee
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Quit caffeine for the simple reason that you’ll enjoy your life more once free of your addiction.
Addiction causes stress; it doesn’t relieve it
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Looking at a coffee queue during the morning commute, it’s impossible not to feel compassion for the poor victims of caffeine.
Stop or cut down?
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The problem with cutting down gradually is that it makes caffeine seem more precious rather than less.
Cutting down tends to make every shot of caffeine appear “special”, so it can perpetuate the illusion that you’re making a sacrifice.
There’s only one way to control your caffeine intake and that’s to stop taking it completely.
.mp .caffeine
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Your only frame of reference regarding caffeine is your addicted state of mind and body, so in that context, a shot of caffeine seems to deliver a boost. In reality, it’s dragging you down mentally and physically.
.mp
The only reason you take caffeine is to try to get rid of the withdrawal – i.e. to feel like someone who doesn’t take it, since they never experience withdrawal – and to feel like you felt the whole of your life before you got addicted to it. The only thing stopping you from feeling that way for the rest of your life is the next shot.
So what if it’s an illusion?
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The incredible machine
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The human body is the result of three billion years of trial and error and is by far the most sophisticated and powerful survival machine on the planet.
The human body is by far the most powerful survival machine on the planet.
We think of tiredness and pain as evils. On the contrary, they’re red warning lights.
The problem is that people often take on too much responsibility. Everything is fine while they’re in control and can handle it. In fact, they often thrive on it.
However, everyone has phases in their life when a series of problems coincide.
The only answer to stress is to remove the cause of the stress. It’s pointless trying to pretend that the stress doesn’t exist. Whether the stress is real or illusory, drugs will make the reality and the illusion worse.
Taking a drug means that you are altering the calibration of one or more of your senses which are the instruments on which your well-being depends.
What the future holds
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What is addiction?
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At its root is a simple misunderstanding. Your brain mistakes caffeine as providing relief from caffeine withdrawal rather than being the cause of it.
.mp .caffeine
The final shot and the instructions
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Remember there is no such thing as just one shot. See it as it really is: the whole lifetime’s chain.
Having made what you know to be the correct decision, NEVER EVER question that decision.
Don’t think, “I must never have caffeine again.” That would create a feeling of deprivation. Instead, start with the feeling, “Isn’t it great! My life is no longer affected by caffeine. I’M FREE!”
Не мотицвация ОТ, а мотивация К
do not – try to avoid thinking about caffeine.
But if you think “FANTASTIC! I’M FREE!”, you’ll enjoy thinking about caffeine, and the more you think about it, the happier you’ll be.
