I am the same as scores of folks, as I approach 40 years of age my vices are falling away one at a time. I can no longer throw away two nights consecutively in my neighborhood bar, I even can hardly deal with one now that I think about it, I am careful with what I eat and if I yield to a fast food urge my body slows down.

Why are all the things that I am partial to so much so not good for me, I reckon that is why they’re ‘vices’. Well then why can’t I have a vice that is in some way acceptable?

Hold on, I guess possibly I do! It’s espresso, I am starting to resign myself to the fact that it is one of my few vices that is not that bad for me after all. In moderation of course. Not like the recent times of more than ten coffees a day, a time when the cafe used to be a cursory pit stop in my adrenelin filled schedule, a nimble refuel from a polystyrene beaker before meetings, just enough of a fix to carry me through to the next dose. I used to belt back a large espresso more rapidly than you could enunciate extra shot venti no whip low fat strawberry frappuccino with wings!

Now, following a quick and unsuccessful experiment with herbal teas (how are there so many types that all taste very similar?) I’m cured, and I’ve never felt so good, the cafe is now a day out in itself, a venue to go with an iPad full of books or a notebook computer full of yet unanswered emails and just take the time to revel in a lovely coffee and a piece of chocolate cake. I have it seems substituted quantity with quality, espresso is no longer just for an energy boost or to momentarily stop the quivers! It is a little repay, it is me being kind to me.

I love the coffee shop but can’t fritter all my life there, my career gets in the way. By way of a compromise I have made a point to set up spacious and very comfortable leather couch with an ottoman in my home study, I don’t drink instant coffee in my home any longer I just enjoy a couple of 20 minute breaks each hours when I am working, I take a latte from my kitchen and relax for the well deserved break.

The best things I have bought in the last year have been that big old chair and my beloved Saeco Aroma Espresso Machine. It is just a baby step in terms of personal progression but I can’t help having a sense of achievement when I understand that I have turned my frantic coffee fixation into pleasurable and guilt free me time.

One last thing, to learn more about the Saeco Aroma Espresso Machine I mentioned in the article please stop by my website for a full review