KarmaFree Cooking

We have a Facebook group of blogger friends from Puerto Rico. It’s funny, but none of us have ever met each other in person. As nice Xmas gesture, we decided to collaborate by writing guests posts in each other’s blogs. We were paired with another blogger and my partner was Meryland from Otros 20 Pesos.

Otros 20 pesos is an expression we use colloquially to refer to “something beside the point”. Meryland uses her blog to discuss and create positive social consciousness. She shares ideas, thoughts and information to make her readers react and reflect. This made me share with her readers my vision on a topic very important to me – the well-being of Puerto Rico and the world we live in.

This article was originally published in Spanish in Otros 20 Pesos… I hope you enjoy it and would share your POV on this topic.

A BETTER PUERTO RICO IS WITHIN OUR GRASP…

Social networks have been filled the last few weeks with cries for peace… desperate shouts from people who are sick and tired that the drug wars are being fought in our own backyards. It’s a mass cry to live in a more tolerant world and society.

What has surprised me of this whole movement of asking and demanding peace… is that most people believe it’s something that someone else is not doing. I am OK… I am part of “the good people”. The “bad ones” is someone else… those who are taking peace from us.

Have you ever sit down and think thoroughly how YOU are contributing to peace in Puerto Rico? Have you analyzed how much YOU could be contributing to all the animosity and negativity in our country YOU so much detest??

We create our OWN desitny

I practice YOGA for 12+ years now and one the YOGA teachings is we are the architects of our own destiny. We are taught of the law of “cause and effect”… of the Law of Karma, which is a universal law that’s always at play whether we believe in it or not.

According to the Law of Karma, we reap what we seed. So if we plant love, positivism and happiness, that’s what we’ll get out of life. On the same hand, if we plant animosity, hate and resentment, that’s what life will have for us in return. It’s just like a boomerang… And how do we “plant”? We plant via our actions, words and thoughts. If we speak, do and think positive and constructively our life will reflect it too.

If this law is in effect 24/7… and what we get out of life is the exact product of what we do, think and say then, what happens in Puerto Rico wouldn’t it be the product of what the people in the Island do, think and say too?? Think about it…

We have no control of what others do, think or say… but we have full control, or at least try to make a conscious effort, of what WE do, think and say. It’s all in our attitude. If we make a conscious effort to have a more positive outlook on life, we’ll see how our surroundings will change for the positive. Focusing on the positive, the negative will start of disappear.

Reconnecting with my True Self

One of the thoughts and actions we have every day is the decision on what to eat. We decide if we will feed ourselves with something that contributes to our health or not. When I started practicing Yoga I developed an awareness of the effect of what I put in my mouth with my health, inner peace and the harmony in my surroundings.

It was not a sudden decision. But day by day, through exercise, diet, meditation and many other actions, I have made great progress in living a healthier, happier life. I noticed I preferred more natural and vegetarian alternatives. These little decisions gave me more inner peace, not use as many dirty words and I started welcoming the occurrences in my daily life with much more ease. Hey… I do sometimes still struggle with some of my past issues. I still lose it once in a while, but this happens less and less as time passes by. But we cannot give up. We must correct ourselves as soon as possible and move forward again.

To be healthy is to be happy. Our happiness is directly related with our overall health. Good health is not the absence of illnesses. Our overall health is made up of mental, social, intellectual, spiritual, emotional health. And the key to improving our environment is to make a conscious effort that our actions, even what we eat each day, affect this environment.

Be the Change you want in the World

By doing small, positive and healthy changes in your daily life you can also make a difference in the world. Maybe you never considered it before, but integrating a more natural and vegetarian lifestyle can certainly have a positive effect in your life and on society.

Individual wellness becomes collective wellness. A society of unhealthy people becomes a sick society. Start with yourself. Just like Michael Jackson said – start with the man in the mirror. Set the example FIRST and inspire others to do the same. We can create the Puerto Rico we want to live in. One person at a time. One action at a time. One thought at a time.

Tags: diet, food, Puerto Rico, resolutions, vegetarian