Image via Wikipedia
I have come to terms that although I try to be vegetarian, there are some things that include animal products that are unavoidable and a necessary evil. As I stated in my last post, I have started taking glucosamine chondroitin as recommended by my doctor. Although I rather not take them, which contain exoskeleton of shellfish, bovine cartilage and gelatin, I have little choice otherwise if I want to protect myself. This virus that I have has lasted for over three weeks and could continue for another month or even longer. It has spread into my hands and knuckles in my right hand these past four days and makes it very painful to type – which makes it hard to work. Regular painkillers do very little to heal the inflammation that spreads from one joint to the next. It has improved over the past three weeks, but once it settles into a joint it stays there for at least two days, get progressively worse, then disappears and then reappears in a different joint like my hip or ankle.
I’m reminded of the Dalai Lama who is a vegetarian at his home in Dharamsala, India but has been advised by doctors to eat meat ever since he came down with jaundice many years ago. It makes me think, that one of the most revered and well-learned monks in Buddhism eats meat occasionally for the benefit of his health, then maybe it is not so harmful that I take glucosamine chondroitin recommended by my doctor to treat my inflammation of my joints. If I don’t do this, the inflammation can cause damage to my own cartilage and cause further damage and problems, and most of all – more pain. No one wants suffering and everyone wants happiness. Taking care of my health is to take care of my family and friends. If I am not well, then I can’t work. If I can’t work, I can’t take care of my husband and dog; pay bills, debt and so on. I am surprised that I have missed very little work since I became sick three weeks ago, with sleepless nights, morning pain, evening pain and even pain that has left me just about paralyzed from the hips down.
Some vegetarians may not understand, but there is suffering in the world every day, every minute in every sense of the word. We can’t be there for everyone, and we can’t save everyone at once. But, if we take our little corner of the world, and try our best to help others and ourselves, it can make a difference. I may not be considered a “hardcore” vegetarian for taking medicine that includes animal products, but that is for me. I still won’t eat the meat of animals because I have no desire to, but I haven’t found something to help cartilage other than to replace it with cartilage. I have found in a vegetarian magazine foods that help with inflammation, and I am going to try to eat those foods, and avoid foods that cause inflammation. But, I will try everything to help myself including taking glucosamine chondroitin which is clinically proven to help with joint inflammation and pain. After 3 weeks of pain everyday – which may be normal in the golden years – but at 29 isn’t something ordinarily expected. I can finally start meditating again, which I haven’t done in weeks because I couldn’t sit for more than 5 minutes without pain either in a chair or sitting Burmese style – the sciatica was the worst.
I suppose the point of this post is not to neglect yourself, not to try to fit into a doctrine if it begins to be detrimental to yourself; follow an honest and other-oriented life dedicated to helping others and focus locally just as much as globally. I promote the vegetarian lifestyle, vegan, even flexitarian. If Buddhism is flexible, then I should allow myself to be forgiving of myself just as much as I try to be forgiving of others. Sometimes we are our harshest critics.
Now for some honey lemon ginger green tea.
Image via Wikipedia
Namaste.
P.S. Happy Family Day and President’s Day.
Green Tea Karma 