Promote what you love

Over the past few months I’ve been going on a new journey and taking on a new challenge in my life…. going vegetarian, and overall living a more mindful life. The goal is to be completely meat free and even vegan in the future. 

This is personally challenging and a less that easy process for most “normal” people who have been eating meat since the ripe age of about two, three? That’s when we started the chicken nuggets isn’t it? 

I genuinely believe American in general has a food addiction. The rates for heart disease backs that theory of mine. But I think we also have a meat addiction that many people don’t really address. Have you ever actually tried to strictly not eat meat? It’s hard, damn hard. We crave it, but I don’t think that it’s because we necessarily need it, to say the least we eat way too much of it. 

Until recently the relation between obesity and coronary heart disease was viewed as indirect. Studies have repeatedly shown a strong link between the amount of red meat people eat and their risk of dying of heart disease. 

I am clearly not one of the people who thinks certain animals were “put here for us to eat”. I just genuinely don’t believe it. It would be a hell of a lot easier if I did then I could just go on with my life and not be bothered.

I think eating animals who went through unnecessary suffering is bad karma. 

There are so many reasons people have for wanting to be meat and or dairy free. The health benefits are worth looking into even if “saving the animals” isn’t your thing. I am a huge animal lover and I have been since I was born.  

So literally animals have always been my thing. I love them, all of them. So why are we so disconnected to which animals we eat and which we don’t… we all feel pain. But let me be clear and add I am pro hunting, anti factor farming… I feel there’s some people who are out there who just don’t want anything to die.. ever, and I’m not knocking that. Because that’s compassionate. And we need more compassion in this world but I understand things die, the terms and way they die matter to me. 

I’m going to tell you why all of this shit matters to me. Because I’ve seen suffering on scale no one should have to see. When you see and experience pain and suffering it gives you the gift of compassion. I was born with compassion. Good lineage of caring people I suppose. But the unnecessary suffering I saw through someone battling and losing against cancer broke me and in turn changed me. 

Do not read this wrong I am in no way comparing cancer to factory farming, but keep reading. I am comparing something really horrible that happened and changing into something that is strengthening me and changing my perception and even my eating habits.

I am a changed person since I lost someone I loved to cancer. I am more mindful, I am more caring, I am more compassionate. I am more understanding of the value of time, and that we need to do things that matter. I grew when that or digging a hole were my only options.

We are killing ourselves with what we put into and on our bodies. We are killing animals and eating them at an obnoxious rate and we are killing ourselves. Why? I think this links back to the meat and in general food addiction. But also social norms, the horrible things we do to ourselves is normal. I have so much hope for millennials. I feel like I meet more and more environmentally and spirituality awake on a daily basis and that’s exciting. 

I want to live a better life. I’ve been overweight for far too long and in the most beautiful way cutting out meat and lessening dairy is helping me. I think we have to do better with what we put on and in our bodies.We have options. So many options. Change has to come from a very genuine place to last.

 I feel like I’m evolving into a more genuine version of myself, and I’m just proud of that. 

So go promote what you love, and give no attention to the things you hate. We only have so much time, live the life you what to live and trust the process of becoming the best you.