Wednesday, June 16, 2010

No Judgment, Just Love: Start Where You Are


I've said it before, but I'll say it again: vegan is not a four letter word.  But, yes, it can be a daunting word.

Heck, even I'm daunted by it sometimes.  Though I eat a plant-based, vegan diet, I've chosen to abandon the "vegan" label.  Why?  First of all, I want my choices to be sustainable (and doable) for the rest of my life.  If I feel like I "can't" have something, then I want it all the more.  And I don't want to feel like crap if I decide to eat a doughnut (can't the doughnut do that all on its own?).  Thus, I can eat whatever I want, and I simply choose a plant-based diet because it tastes the best and feels the best for me.  To be honest, there's nothing I feel like I'm "missing."  I love the way I eat.

Second, I'm human.  All I can do is the best I can.  (Isn't that all we can ever do?)  That means that on occasion, such as when I travel, I opt for vegetarianism when necessary.  There was a time that I felt awful about that, or about when I scarfed a churro at Disneyland, but no longer.  I'm human, and I'm doing the best that I can, and I don't want to judge myself or others.  Aren't we all doing the best we can with where we are?

What this world needs -- in my humble opinion -- is a heck of a lot more love.  So I love me, and I love you, and I trust that we're all doing the best that we can.

A friend of mine posted this great quote on Facebook recently: "Start where you are; use what you have; do what you can; and it will be enough."

Love that.

By the by, if you're curious about trying a vegan diet for a day, a week, or a month, or just learning more about it, this is a great article by Virginia Messina, "Go Vegan in 10 Easy Steps."  She gives some great tips for transitioning.  It's a big transition too; if you opt for it, go slowly and gently, and give yourself lots of love and encouragement.  It will also take a little while (not too long) for your body to adjust to a totally different way of eating.  So be as patient as you can.  Remind yourself that you're choosing health and compassion for you, the planet and the animals.  But most of all, choose it for you.

Salud!

1 comment:

  1. Absolutely... love is all we need, the rest follows!!

    ReplyDelete