Real Life Matters

If you have ever talked with me for more than five minutes you know that I love coffee. I’ve been drinking the stuff since a friend introduced me to it at summer camp in high school. During my freshman year of college I recorded the “Coffee Song” on my roommate’s four track tape recorder.^[1]The first lines of this little ditty were:
“Coffee works well for everyone.
Take three sips and experience fun.
Coffee. Coffee.”
Yes, I know! It’s so bad. And I still love it.

The coffee machines I have used over the years cover a spectrum from the most basic (a 1984 Proctor Silex machine featuring a rudimentary circular basket) to the most elaborate (a Flair hand-pulled espresso maker, which I still sometimes use. It pulls delectable double shots).

You could say that I am obsessed. But here is where things get interesting. I am – or was – thinking about upgrading my current Kalita pour-over system to a Moccamaster machine made by Technivorm. I returned to the link on Amazon over and over. I nearly ordered it several times. But the thing is expensive. Also, the more I read about it the more doubts I began to have, like: what about the negative reviews online? And do we really have space for another device to worry about and clean? And what’s wrong with pour-over coffee, which not long ago was all the rage? Now, after testing my desire, I am content with the status quo. The urge came and went. Problem solved.

Isn’t this true? By avoiding the urge to get a dopamine hit buying something we want but do not need, the urge to buy it eventually goes away.

“The best measure of wealth is what you have minus what you want.”^[2]Housel, Morgan. The Art of Spending Money: Simple Choices for a Richer Life (p. 35). (Function). Kindle Edition.