When I became vegan almost 2 years ago, I had already been vegetarian for about 6 years. Throughout these years I have had a lot of friends ask a lot of questions about vegetarianism, veganism, the differences between them, what exactly made me change to this type of lifestyle etc….but one of my favorite questions to get asked was „does it bother you to be around other people eating meat?“ And the answer has always been no. If you are respectful towards my life choices and how I choose to eat, and if you’re not trying to rub my nose in it or make jokes at my expense, then I will be respectful towards you and your life choices. Respect me and I respect you. Bottom line.
Recently, I had two good friends (who were the biggest meat eaters) get a little curious and watch a documentary about the inhumane treatment of animals, and what is actually in our food. They were appalled. So appalled and disgusted that they actually converted to veganism that day. About a month or so into their new lifestyle, I received a text from one of them, and she was apologizing for ever eating meat in front of me and she couldn’t understand why I would ever put up with that, how the thought of it made her sick and that she was so sorry for ever doing it. While I greatly appreciated her apology, I couldn’t help but smile and giggle a little bit. I explained to her that you can’t force your beliefs or your lifestyle on anybody; you can’t force someone to see what you see if they don’t want to open their eyes or their minds. It’s not right to condemn someone and to spread hate just because they aren’t ready to hear what you have to say. All you can do is plant seeds of information when someone wants to be informed, and be a positive support system. That friend and her husband are now vegan, and even her parents are vegan now! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Changing the way people see things, and changing the world is all about one day at a time. If you play a role in helping even one person change their eating habits and lifestyle, the world is already a better place.
Thank you for hearing me out and listening to my story. While I would love for the whole world to become vegan and to treat all of these beautiful animals with love and respect, Rome wasn’t built in a day, World War II didn’t end in a week, the LGBT community and gay marriage wasn’t accepted overnight…. big movements take time, dedication, but most of all they take patience.
