Health is better than everything

Friday was a tiresome day, not because of the workload but because of the rush. I almost burst into fury and stop collaboration at a project. I am not sure, I might have said some harsh words to the other person, I was too angered and overwhelmed to be aware of what I was saying. I hope I didn't offend, too much...I know I don't have much patience, but I try to pace myself. This person really pushes my buttons. She is a good person and I know she doesn't do this intentionally, but she is a very difficult person to work with. For some time, I blamed myself, thinking I had a problem, but I saw that she drives most people crazy. Finally, maybe it's a good exercise for my patience. If I will get to the point when it will be impossible for me to take it any more, I hope I will have the strength to retire calmly, without victims. I wanted to do it from the beginning when I saw I have problems with her way of work, but as usual I am weak and I don't want to leave people without support. Besides, I made the project, it's my baby, and I want somehow to nurture it and gather its fruit (take advantage of the trip in Turkey it includes).
Enough with work. Or..last night I staid till 3a.m. making some logos for the same project. I began in the afternoon and I don't know then the hours passed. Work is great when you enjoy it!
Today, I worked too, with the same spirit. I did things without being asked, because I know they have to be done.(I "blame" my mum for this compulsion to do my work till the end. The years of indoctrination have put their print on my behaviour.)
Besides work, I went in town for an anniversary present. It  was a great day, with the perfect weather- neither cold, nor hot.  I was amused by my encounter with a former student. She greeted me very respectfully, but I felt a bit uncomfortable. She looked more like the teacher than I did. She is very tall, very blonde and stylish, while I prefer comfortable clothes, without heels. I felt small and unnoticeable. I should really pay more attention to my look...Even if I lose one of my pleasures- walking a lot. Tomorrow...(quoting Scarlett O'Hara)
Another encounter, one of many, was with an acquaintance who was telling me about her daughter's health problems (yes, a leitmotif for my visits to town). What shocked me was that she was telling me that woman, who is very religious, is fasting very harshly, refusing even oil cooked meals and medication. I really don't understand why it would be against God to eat oil, which is made from sun-flower or other plants. And what about drugs? I wonder if there is any Orthodox priest who forbids them and what explanation he gives for that. I really doubt that this is written somewhere. If it is, I really think that is a big deal and I would have a problem with that piece of writing.
We don't take medication because we are all right. And what kind of religion would ask us to give up our health only because it says this is liked by God? I really think that that woman took things too far and she invents rules for herself and to be sure she is in God's favour. I think she really needs specialist. Her mother said there is no reasoning with her, so she would not accept this specialised help  voluntarily, she doesn't realise she has a problem. But for her health, her parents must do something to hospitalize her, or they will have a bigger problem. She can die of starvation, she eats little food and doesn't drink water, and because of her untreated stomach illness.
She is a walking corpse now. She looks old beyond her years in her black nun-like clothes. I remember her some years ago, at a wedding. She looked like a movie star, she used to be very beautiful and fashionable.
Talking about this, reminded me about a distant relative who died of cancer. She was in her early forties when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. A surgery would have extracted the cancer cells and saved her life, but before her surgery she went for an advice to her priest. And surprise, surprise...he told her that it would be a sin to do that, that letting the doctor cut her breast would be an act against God. He said that God will, no doubt, take care of her and cure her. He recommended her to try natural remedies and a lot of prayer.
Being in a very difficult moment emotionally, she caved in and turned to religion, giving up surgery. She even decided to sell her house and move to a monastery in the North of Moldavia and live like a nun in prayer. After a couple of months the pains began and she reconsidered her decision of giving up surgery, but unfortunately it was too late, the cancer had spread into her body.
When I visited her to that monastery (with a cousin who wanted to say her good -byes, because the end was obvious) she couldn't leave her bed any more, the cancer being spread in one of her lungs and a leg. It was...painful to see her. She was taking lots of drugs, but not even those weren't able to take her horrible pains. I hope, this would be a lesson for people who read this. Don't give up on modern medicine! You wouldn't want to get in her situation. It was almost 10 years ago and I still remember everything from that house and especially her room. It was a mind-carving image. And we couldn't do anything to help. We were talking and trying to make her talk, forget for a second, at least, about the pain and at the same time to fill in the silence, full of tension.
She died a month after, if I remember correctly. She had many more days of growing sufferance. I wouldn't wish that to the worse killer in history. Please, people promise to take care of yourself in any way possible. I made this promise to myself then and I want to stick to it. I totally agree with the Romanian saying: "Health is better than everything!"