Selfless or selfish

When we get serious about repair we’re doing something big for ourselves and something even bigger for the greater good (which of course includes saving animals). To make this work we have to be a little self-disciplined; it means avoiding what is sensually attractive to us, because of its origins; it means avoiding any number of attractive, traditional foods.
At first this seems like a massive sacrifice (which we automatically associate with discomfort). To get past this, we obviously need some strength-of-intention. But once this first hurdle is jumped another level of enjoyment is reached … and the rest is the journey towards both repair and personal satisfaction.
Going vegan starts out as a selfless establishing of new habits, but then, as effort is rewarded, the selfless becomes self benefiting. What we want for others we want for ourselves, and this smacks of altruism of course. But it’s just a concept. Our own altruism may be mistaken, exaggerated, very based upon Western-Christian-good-bad but all it needs is fresh meaning to turn it from a dull difficult idea into something far more interesting. The ‘new altruism’ doesn’t have to be me-centred or you-centred but a sensible balance between the two, to suit common interests.
It comes back to a central question: am I convinced there’s enough in altruism in me? That depends on whether I think it works. Linking altruism to the relationship between me and animals makes me ask myself, why is this important enough to me? Why would I step out for them? And on the other side of this altruism - what’s in it for me? Ultimately - why would we want to become vegan? Why would I want to do that to myself?