Day 1: Substitute Tea for Coffee #30DaysofGOOD

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Welcome to The GOOD 30-Day Challenge (#30DaysofGOOD). Each month, we challenge our community members to do something that will improve the world around us—and our own lives. The challenge for October? To get healthy. In an effort to help us all rise to the occasion, we're going to assign one small task every day. Each morning, we will post the challenge on GOOD.is and Twitter, along with a testimonial from someone on the GOOD team who's already completed it. We invite you to complete all 30 mini-challenges with us! Today we challenge you to:

Substitute tea for coffee.

I’ve never been an avid caffeine consumer, besides the occasional Four Loko. Sprite is my favorite soda, and growing up, I thought coffee tasted something like dirt soup. During college, coffee served a single and effective purpose of helping me pull procrastination-induced all-nighters. Even one cup makes me shaky and anxious, but I rely on it to get me through days like one I had last week.

I had a lot on my mind, had barely slept the night before, and had the sagging under-eye bags of a hungover owl to prove it. So when I got to work, I dragged my body to the piping hot coffee pot and reached for a cup. But before I poured, the Lipton tea packets nearby caught my eye. I put the coffee down and plopped the tea bag into a cup of scalding water, hoping that antioxidants and tea's bland but soothing flavor would help my mood. Sipping slowly, I took a few minutes to calm down and reconsider my bad mood, and I did feel better. Not feeling a jittery high for the next three hours helped, too.

-Jillian Anthony

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Ready, set, go! Good luck completing today's challenge. Share your experience on Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook by using the hashtag #30DaysofGOOD, or let us know how it went in the comments section below.

Tomorrow's challenge: Try an alternative workout.