Well, it finally happened...and the vegetarian option

Yes, I have made a connection with another blogger... And I was thrilled to bits...

Christine, who posted a comment, was driving into a difficult situation and sought breath as a helpful companion. This for me is news I can use... My obsession with breath is mostly caused by my totally forgetfulness around my strongest connexion with the universe... Rather than surf on the wave of bliss that propels my being, I obsess and compulse over just about eveything, always trying to intercept the breath before it gets to me, always second-guessing what the universe has to offer, always conditioning what is on my menu for the day....

Not that I have huge angst to contend with. I'm not facing starvation, even hunger, or natural disaster. (Although we do live by the river Thames and three years ago were nearly engulfed by it.)

I've now been on the planet over 55 years, so decided it was time to box clever...and change the way I do things. Choice was, I felt, the most powerful thing I had at my disposal...

And then I reviewed my life to see where choice had been used creatively... I was a mite disappointed as I have been a bit of a drifter - helped my employers get rich, and just got by myself. More responsive to the needs of others, than conscious of my own. I even masked my needs in my spiritual practices - meditating became a way to maintain equilibrium in my wobbly world, rather than an end in itself - to drink in the here and now...

All was not lost, as I'd made a pivotal decision back in 1969, when I was living in the Carmel Valley in California, I became a vegetarian. And I've been one ever since.

I then reflected on how many times I had made positive choices around my food. In restaurants I always HAD to choose the vegetarian option, even when there wasn't one. And back then, there often wasn't - the monotony of cheese salads and omelettes eaten out of desperation was nearly enough to turn my back into a carnivore, but the thought of chewing dead cow never really caught my fancy again...

At times, the new diet made me feel awkward and out of kilter with the rest of the world, but I persevered and it is still something that I stand by and feel good about...especially when I look at a catalogue of bad choices I've made, especially when I was in OCD mode...

So to cut to the chase, I'm extending the vegetarian option to be the metaphor of my life... Whatever comes along that needs a decision, whether trivial or portentous, I'm looking for the "vegetarian option." Which is actually no big deal, other than making the best, conscious choice I can at any particular moment in time...which, in turn, bring me back to the indefatigable inflator and deflator of my lungs...