Paige Changes

I was riding in a comfortable bus with many friends. Outside the weather was stormy with pouring rain, lightning and wind bending trees to the ground. In the bus was pleasant music, laughter, good company and relaxing seats. The aroma of mounds of shrimp was everywhere and we were ready to eat!

While looking through the window I suddenly saw a sign very clearly. It said, “No gas services next 500 miles”! Automatically I looked over the driver’s shoulder and noticed that the gas gauge was close to the red mark. I told him about the sign, and he retorted, “It couldn’t be! You must’ve been mistaken. I think there will be one soon.” As it was, the driver was not pleased with my interrupting the joke he was telling.

I remembered very clearly what I saw and thought that surely someone else in the bus must have seen it. I went through the bus and asked my friends. Nobody saw the sign and what was more surprising, nobody cared!

I began to realize that we’d have to walk back many miles as the bus was quickly taking us farther and farther toward the point of no return. I knew it was important to turn our bus back, but my friends began to feel irritated. I grabbed my backpack and asked the driver to let me out. Some of my friends started to tell me, “Hey, you’ll get all wet and cold. Wait for the shrimp first. Don’t leave us. Don’t you like our company?”

Ignoring them, I jumped off the bus at the first opportunity. But it wasn’t long before I was very cold and scared. For a while, I doubted my own wisdom. How nice it was in a warm bus…

I started to walk faster to get warmer. Walking in wet shoes soon gave me bad blisters. There were more busses filled with people and music following the route my bus had taken. I couldn’t believe that I was the only one who saw the sign.

It took me two hours to reach the sign. I read it again. I was glad that it was real and I felt sorry for my friends. But I had done my best to let them know. I continued walking. I fell into some kind of numbness of meditation and didn’t notice how it started to light up in the eastern sky.

Suddenly I saw a barefoot man standing on the road. Smiling, he asked, “Did you get off the bus? Me too. I’m so glad to see you. I’ve been walking alone for fourteen days already. You are the first one I’ve seen since then.”

I was surprised that he didn’t look tired or depressed. In fact, he looked happy and refreshed. I told him about my blisters, and how I was tired and hungry. Instead of sympathy, the man began to tell me his story. He said that he had begun to really enjoy walking. He said, everybody would have to get off the bus.

I feel like this all the time. But, I’m starting to get to the point were I am beginning to like this walk. Getting off the bus and going vegan was the best thing I have ever done but, for the next part of this journey I would really like to get into a more raw diet and start running instead of just walking. I don’t know where this will take me but I can’t imagine it is towards anything bad.

thehealthexperiment:

Ralph Waldo Emerson

fittywithit:

I would love to follow all of you :-)

My Dad is going to the hospital this evening for his second time of amputation. They removed one toe already (from gangrene due to diabetes) and they are going to be removing two more because of infection that has not gone away. He was finally starting to make changes to help him get better but it seems it was too little too late.

Personally for my own life I am going to do whatever it takes to keep this from happening to me. So, I see lots of leafy greens and gym time in my future.