This morning I had a rather nice
debate with a friend of mine and quite a debate it was - she is an attorney. It was an interesting conversation about
veganism. For those of you that do not
know, I have been a Vegetarian for over 18 years and a Vegan for over 8 years. At the time of writing this article some years ago, I hadn't made the jump to fully becoming Vegan and I considered myself 99% vegan, but due to the fact that I am
a diabetic, at times, I struggle with things to eat when I am traveling.
My friend pointed out to me that it is mostly
about preparation and choice. She is 100% correct. I have
to admit, at times I fall short of just that.
When I travel, I sometimes resort to dairy products, breads etc. hence why I am 99% vegan. I do agree with my friend wholeheartedly,
that dairy and the carnivore diet does cause a great deal of suffering on
animals and the planet at large, but that is another conversation to be
had.
My goal with this post is simple
- at times we make judgments and I have to be honest, I have done this quite
often in my life. We as a society judge
people on their looks, their views, their diets, their social hierarchy in
society, their religious beliefs and political affiliation etc. Just look at
all the silly comments and bickering that goes on Face Book. My goal has turned from looking at situations
and making a snap decision to seeing many layers deep then what it appears to
be on the surface. I am doing my best to
understand the root cause, before I react and make any decisions.
For example: while debating with
my friend, she spoke about Veganism and asked "Why don't I just cut the
little bit out of dairy that I eat?"
I agree - with her and said "I should," I just have to make
that commitment and prepare and do it. I
can't make excuses, I can't say there are reasons, even though sometimes I have
a few. What I need to do is make the
decision and do it. I easily make
decisions much harder than this on a daily basis, so with some effort this will
be easy. I then thought I would play devil's advocate
and ask her opinion on smoking and drinking.
She doesn't smoke but believes smoking is bad, for those forced to
endure - for example - second hand smoke.
But if a person consciously chooses to smoke that is their choice. I also asked about drinking and she said the
same. I then commented saying - "that
many people make choices based on their own preferences. No matter whether they are good for them or
bad or society at large. We as a country
or a civilization look out for the better good of all mankind. Why else wouldn't we just allow everyone to
destroy the planet with pollution or possibly child labor laws. There are rules put in affect to stop the
destruction of the planet and humankind. No matter where we live - we are all
interconnected a great deal closer than one would imagine. Why is it though
that we have mixed emotions on things like smoking, drinking, drugs, over
eating etc. Why as a society do we turn
the other cheek?"
I then asked my friend
- what about the layer that go much deeper. For example: If I drink milk, it causes pain
to the cow producing it for many reasons.
Why do we not think of the ramifications of cigarettes and the migrant
workers who have to work for pennies on the dollar producing it, or the land
that is being destroyed to produce the tobacco, or the litter from all of the
people who discard their cigarettes out the windows of their cars or toss the
old cigarette on the floor? The layers
are many aren't they? If we eliminated
cigarettes there would be a host of bad things going as well. Alas,
people have freedom of choice, so we allow them to chose - hence why companies
make a fortune on things that are bad.
This all stirs up thought, I hope would get you to thinking. I go back to the simple solution. Try to
think in layers. Try your best to act
with a global consciousness. Do not fall
back on the simple choice of saying "what can I do about the big picture?"
the doing nothing syndrome. The simple
answer is, just your actions, creates a
wave f consciousness and actions within others. If you chose to act a specific
way, then some may follow. If you speak about a specific issue then others may
listen. Try your best to "Be the Change in the World, you
want." Do not just write off, "well
this is what I do, or this is how it is."
Do your best to make a difference. Even if your best is not 100% - it
will most certainly make an impact on the world we live. See yourself as the conduit for greatness - Be the
example............. Live the example and change the world - one little step at
a time. Be a part of "The Change in
the world we want".......It starts with a simple decision and a simple action.
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