The Gratitude Pool: Ode To Health Helpers

by Florence Ondré

I'm grateful for homeopathic medicine and herbal remedies and all those who put the time into making these goodies for us all to have better health on a daily basis.

It's been the flu achoo show here and these little pez dispensers from the health food store ameliorated the worst symptoms of that drama.

The alternative to cough syrup with alcohol and whoppingingly expensive prescriptions drugs that send you over the moon with side effects is a gentler way to get through the whole change of season mess.

Now don't get me wrong, when I'm feeling crappy, there's nothing more than a nice trip over any moon. I'd rather be anywhere but actually consciously in the flu zone.

"Take me out!" my brain tells my body. "Drugs...yeah, that's what I need. Get me out of this achey pain and away from its friends, attractive nasal drip and assorted other grimey activities that make you promise God, and whoever is up there, your first born or whatever else it'll take to seal the heal; negotiate giving up any bad habit and three of your best friends for a quick cure; and beg on bended knee to enter the witness protection program or, better yet, shed your Earthsuit permanenty.

Yeah, that's a real head trip and it stays exactly there for me... inside my cranium, swollen with aliens; little germs gathering like Lord Of The Rings, underground armies, rattling their head aching sabers and scraping my ear canals raw with their arrgghh shrieking.

Then somewhere in the cacaphony, a blessed being of calm gives respite. A ray of light, coherence, creeps into the forefront of inner riot and, in whispers, reminds me of these magic words to win this siege....

"Drink lots of water, keep up your vitamins, take your homeopathics and rest."

My 'I-could-have-had-a V-eight' moment passes quickly into a hallelujah chorus of comprehension. I head toward the medicine chest, grab my little, magic vials, tylenol for the fever and a tall glass of agua and head to my pallet of pillows and soft sheets.

For three days, I'm burrowed under comforters as I allow the healing to take it's natural course....in a gentler more flexible way and time.

Thanks people who helped make the journey easier. I may never meet you, yet I am grateful for your artisty in the field of complementary medicine. You make my life and that of others more healthfull .