“Give it up. Stop!” This is the message I received in a dream last week. Yes, lyrics from Tom Petty’s song “Don’t Come Around Here No More”. What can I say- I went to high school in the 80’s and pop music was my primary language. A most effective message from dreamland as it stuck with me when most dreams fade upon waking.

As I’ve been asking for guidance through my dreams, it seemed really important to listen. I teach my Reiki students that intuition is like a friend. If you don’t answer the phone, she’ll eventually stop calling. While I’m courting dream guidance, it would be prudent to actually heed it!

Give what up? was the obvious question. Caffeine was the answer that came loud and clear. @#$%

Naturally, I negotiated.

Really! So silly, I know. I decided to cut back from 2 or 3 cups of green tea down to one. That seemed a reasonable decision.

Then a few days later the headache began. My response? I forgot all about the dream and increased my caffeine intake as that often helps resolve the problem for me. But this headache lasted for three days. That’s unheard of for me. This morning, Day Four, it lingered on. As I sat quietly contemplating on the patio (with a cup of black tea no less! Hey I’ve been miserable for the past three days, don’t I at least deserve a few sips of comfort?), I remembered.

It became quite clear that my body was telling me, YELLING at me, demanding that I give it up- stop! I had failed to heed the gentle warning and now I was receiving the message the hard way- through pain.

So I took one last sip, and poured out that delicious tea. Now I’m drinking a rooibos latte and enjoying it greatly. I’m confident this blasted headache will fade as the caffeine exits my system. I will allow myself a moment to grieve over an old friend who won’t come around here no more, and then I will celebrate a new level of reduced inflammation, deeper sleep, and greater clarity and creativity.

And that’s totally worth it.