Meat, Or Vegetarian?

I didn’t have any shopping plan for today. But when I walked past that vege shop, I couldn’t help but stop to have a look.

I grabbed some bananas, oranges, tomatoes and Gai Lan (a Chinese vegetable). Even though I thought I’d finished, I just hang around. It was so pleasant just to be in the shop, looking at all those colourful and juicy fruits and vegetables, and smelling the aroma. The whole environment was so calm, relaxed and peaceful. There were a few customers in the shop. They all took their time to select what they wanted. And they all looked happy and relaxed. Maybe it was because today is Friday. At the checkout, the gentleman in front of me was merrily chatting with the checkout girl.

I suddenly realised something.

I realised why my weekly shopping experiences in the local super market were never the same. I never felt so relaxed like I did in the vege shop. There was one particular aspect in my shopping experience in the super market I always dreaded: I never enjoyed buying meat! If my husband was with me, I’d always ask him to sort out the meat so I could escape from the scene. If I was on my own, I would spend as little time as possible and get them done with. Every time I walked past the meat department, there was always something bothering me. My husband can tell you all about it - I was either anxious, impatient, annoyed, disturbed, or grumpy …for no reason. Somehow I always seemed angry upon seeing all those different kinds of meat lying there.

I realised for the first time, that those processed meat in the super markets have a different vibration from the fruits and veges. Although they lie there silently, they have been through various cruel and inhuman stages to get there. Their vibration therefore is very low because they’ve been hurt. (If we human beings are hurt and feel sad, our vibration would be low just the same.) That’s why the scene of raw meat has always been disturbing to me. It is hard to associate meat with peace, calm and love.

Shopping in a vege shop is different. The food is fresh produce from nature. Lots of love have been injected into them before they get to the vege shop. The vibration from those fresh produce is high. That’s why it is always a pleasant experience just to hang around them.

I discussed with my husband a few weeks ago about the benefits of becoming vegetarian. He did not object to the concept. He could see the merits of it but was concerned about the practicality. This is a blessing because after all, if we live together, our life would be easier if our tastes, likings and preferences on food are in tune. I believe if we could manage to make it practical, we could both do it.

Like everything else in our life so far, I think we can do it together on this. I will increase our consumption of vegetarian food and cut our consumption on meat . I will do it a gradual basis, with a view to become a vegetarian say in two years time. I believe a radical change on diet like this is better done gradually so the body system would not get confused suddenly.

I don’t like radical changes in life. But I like to be in tune. I think eating sensibly is one way of being in tune. I’ve already visualised myself of becoming an organic food person and somewhat an environmentalist in my mid-forties. Maybe this day will come sooner. Who knows?