With the Olympics starting in a couple of weeks, and the ongoing emphasis on sports’ stars who use PEDs-Performance Enhancing Drugs, I thought I’d offer a lighter post about leaders and PED’s. To my knowledge the most commonly used PED’s among America’s leaders is caffeine. Perhaps, I’m supersensitive to the substance at the moment, because I’ve decided to rid myself of it yet again. I’m experiencing the massive headache that always comes when I put myself through withdrawal from it. That after a night of not being able to sleep, which is a common side effect of caffeine withdrawal. (Who would’ve figured since many use caffeine to stay awake.)
The reason I’m eliminating caffeine from my system again is ostensibly because I’ll be leaving for Cambodia in about a month for a mission trip and I don’t want to experience the withdrawal while there, if caffeine isn’t available at any of the places we travel. The likelihood of not having caffeine available in Cambodia isn’t high, since caffeine is a worldwide PED. Whether it’s found in the form of coffee, or soft drinks, or tea, or the amazingly popular energy drinks that pack caffeine and sugar in incredibly high doses, caffeine is a nearly universal substance. I’m also withdrawing from caffeine again, because I don’t want to be dependent on any external substance for my energy.
I’m not telling all of you to stop drinking coffee or to get off caffeine. I’m pointing out that when I use caffeine, or more accurately, when I am not able to use caffeine when I’m using it regularly, I feel miserable. So the question becomes: Is the solution to stop drinking caffeine or just make sure that I always have enough of it? When I put the question to myself that way it sounds a lot like I “need” caffeine to function. I don’t want to need anything external in order to function. Thus, the withdrawal from caffeine AGAIN. I don’t know how many times over the years I’ve withdrawn from caffeine before a mission trip, or during one, or because I want to take better care of my body, but I know this: I’ve withdrawn from it for weeks and even months, but then there’s always that moment when someone offers me a cup of coffee, or I’m at a restaurant and they have Dr. Pepper, and I remember how bland water tastes, and I’m back on the PED’S again.
When I told Nancy yesterday that I was withdrawing from caffeine for the LAST time, she just looked at me and laughed. She’s heard that line before. Right now, I just want to have a cup of coffee and end the pain in my neck and head. As I write those words, it sounds an awful lot like the guys I minister to at the halfway house who are seeking to overcome their reliance on alcohol and other drugs that may or may not enhance their performance. So, at least for today, I’m going to remain off the caffeine and if I make through Thursday it’ll be a matter of daily will power.
As our friend Socrates reminded us millennia ago: The unexamined life is not worth living. You may or may not use caffeine or any other PED, but if you do, I simply encourage you to ask yourself why you do, and whether there is anything to gain by not using it? As leaders we ought to set the example in all areas of our lives, and perhaps being PED free is one of those areas.
Here’s to leading better by examining our use of external substances and considering whether to ban them in our lives–today!