What Are You Grateful for Today?

There's quirky vegan restaurant around the corner from where I lived in San Francisco. It's called Cafe Gratitude and is located on 20th & Harrison in the Mission. Quirky is hardly a good word for it: Cafe Gratitude received accolades in the New York Times for its vegan fare and they have, I think, three locations. I've never had a better, fresher salad in my entire life. When taking your order, the service staff, instead of asking, "What can I get for you" or "May I take your order", asks,"What are you grateful for today"?

What are you grateful for today? We're on the other side of a bountiful holiday that most people got to enjoy. We ate to our heart's and belly's content (about 2400 calories in that meal) and enjoyed the company of family and friends. I wasn't able to be at a Thanksgiving celebration and ended up at Carl's Jr. for a 6 Dollar Burger. There was a homeless person there, too, but he was asleep. As I enjoyed my 6 Dollar Burger (finally, somebody put some crunchy veggies on a burger, the pickles were a little sweet, but...) I thought about what I was most grateful for that day. For yesterday, today, and tomorrow, it will always be my health.

So much of what ails us these days is preventable. High cholesterol is mostly diet-related. High blood pressure is mostly diet-related. Obesity (and its cascade of health issues) is diet-related. Type II diabetes is mostly diet-related. I had a 70 year old male client who refused to get a colonoscopy because he perceived it to be unsafe (colon cancer is preventable with regular screenings). And least we not forget cigarettes: A government-sanctioned, highly profitable, highly taxed, nicotine delivery device responsible for thousands of preventable deaths.

Mortals that we are, we will all eventually die. Why hasten the process and erode our quality of life (what's left of it)? I used to care for a friends dog and her instructions were: Food, water, and plenty of exercise. I think this is a fitting prescription for all of us.