The Dali Lama said in his book The Art of Happiness that we should identify those things we are doing that cause us to suffer and those things that bring us joy.  Do less of the former and more of the latter.  Though I consider myself to be a happy person, I realized there were many things I could do to address both ends of the scale.  One of them was caffeine.  ‘Seemed easy enough.  This was not even taking action.  It was INaction.  Piece of cake.  The effect of caffeine is that one usually feels uplifted for a relatively brief period of time, followed by a “crash”.  Coming off of caffeine seems to have had the opposite effect.  Initially quitting caffeine generated irritability and a number of physical reactions including headache.  Caffeine contributes to anxiety, hypertension and insomnia.  Rather than simply ceasing the negative behavior, I have replaced it with a positive: water.  Now, a month “sober” I miss it but the drug’s stranglehold seems to be loosening.  Next cut: processed sugar?? Yikes!