Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Personally experiencing difficulties

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In my own case I saw the advantages of a plant based diet but feared taking the first step, and for good reason. You don’t have to be Einstein to see where all this is going to lead to.  The nobility of the idea was exciting in theory, but the practical implications were scary.  I could see all the weaponry I was going to have to use, to get me by.  I saw the difficulty of it and started to build my defences.

But as it happened, going vegan was almost like falling in love! Quite a surprise, mainly to do with my capability.  It was the cloud passing in front of the sun and passing on, the eureka moment of my brand of truth - seeing quite clearly that there was no need to make any use of animals. It’s like living on a main road and getting used to the fumes, not realising that fresh air actually exists; liberating animals is simply a way of strengthening ourselves.  And following from that, I now had a purpose which fitted me like a glove, it made sense to go beyond myself towards ‘the other’; exciting theory - the challenge of committing to something bigger than myself.

I made a list of everything I could think of which I’d no longer be using - I’d be avoiding hundreds of products I was attracted to. I’d be either having to do without them or having to find replacements for them, and when nothing was available, facing the fact that I wouldn’t be giving in to temptation. A relatively small price to pay for my empathy for ‘the other’.


My life was going to be difficult, but nothing compared to what farm animals are going through.  By comparison, my ‘lifestyle difficulties’ would pale into insignificance, so a little sacrifice on my part would be hardly worth a mention.  Is hardly worth a mention.

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