Expiration Date

This morning felt normal.

Coffee brewing.
Kitchen still dim.
Same routine I’ve done a thousand times.

I poured a cup.
Grabbed the cream.
Didn’t think twice.

It hit the coffee… and just sat there.
Separated.
Off.

I paused.

Looked at it longer than I should have.

Then I took a sip anyway.

Not terrible.
Just enough to know something wasn’t right.

I stood there for a second thinking,
Why am I still drinking this?

That made me think…

How often I do that in life.

I feel it.
I notice it.
Something doesn’t sit right.

And I keep going anyway.

Not because it’s working.
Because it’s familiar.

Most things don’t break in a moment.

They fade.

A pattern that used to serve me.
A mindset that once fit.
A way of responding I’ve repeated so long
it feels automatic.

Nothing obvious.
Nothing urgent.

Just enough to know.

And I keep sipping.

I don’t end up stuck by accident.

I stay.

Past the point where it fits.
Past the point where it helps.
Past the point where I already know.

There’s a version of me
that got me here.

I respect it.

But it’s not coming with me.

Familiar can feel right.
Even when it isn’t.

Lately I’ve been paying attention
to that first signal.

That small pause.

Because it’s rarely wrong.

The problem isn’t the one bad sip.

It’s finishing the cup
after I knew.

Where am I still finishing something
I already know has expired?

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