-Isms: Views on life in rural America

While I was reading Abby Ellin's New York Times piece, "I Was Powerless Over Diet Coke," I caught a glimpse of my life from nearly 20 years ago.

Ellin outlines how she chugged three or four cans a day, for nearly 40 years, until she reached a point when nothing felt right. CT scans and ultrasounds led to a colonoscopy, which all came back clear.

Still, Ellin had this nagging feeling her daily addiction to Diet Coke was making her ill.

For years, my daily routine started with a glass of water, followed by one or two glasses of brewed tea and then, I'd down six or seven Diet Cokes. A few years later, I was chugging a bottle of the low-cal liquid gold each class period. The problem was, I never felt like my thirst was quenched. And, I felt sluggish. Even glasses of water and multiple sticks of peppermint Trident couldn't mask the aspartame aftertaste.

Then, I got sick and a late-night trip to the emergency room turned into an admittance with a severe case of bronchitis and a fever. I had a horrible hack that wouldn't quit. That's when the doctor had a long chat, -er reprimanded me - about my Diet Coke addiction, because really, that's what it had turned into.

Two days later, after dismissal, I gave up the Diet Coke. Cold turkey. Strong brewed iced tea or ice cold water became my go-to drink of choice. It wasn't easy. The headaches started. Cutting out fake sugar improved my disposition, but for a long time, that incessant craving for a bottle of pop remained, until one day, the need for sweet and caffeine disappeared. So did the headaches.

Giving up an addiction isn't easy, even if it's diet soda. Saying no to the thing or things we consider bad for us may cause us to take two steps forward and one step back, until we reach the point when we know we need to make a change.