Finally doing the right thing

[aspen patchouli spirit]

I just joined and figured I should share a bit about myself. I have been going through a spiritual awakening for about 2 years now. It all started when about 2 years ago, when I was in Vegas to meet my dad and brother. I had the worst time of my life on a trip. That was the turning point however. It was on that trip that I decided that I was going to do something to change my situation. I started trying to get on the right combination and now, after 29 years I have finally gotten on the right combination to cure me.

Now I am ready to take steps to start reducing my impact on the planet even greater. I have tried to become vegetarian several times in the past, alas each time was unsuccessful. I am very close with my parents and eat meals with them most of the time and they are meat eaters. This is where the problem ensues. I noted last night that I don't really even like meat, I just eat it because they serve it to me. How should I overcome this bump in the road?

 

[Forest Nymph]

Well if you're 29 you could start by preparing your own meals, and offering to cook some of the entire family's meals at least once a week to expose your parents to tastier vegetarian options.

I mean when I was little I had this problem, I actually knew I didn't like meat as a child, and while my grandmother was content to let me eat cheese sandwiches and tomato soup or poached eggs, other members of my family all but forced meat on me like I was gonna die without it until I was at least 11. So I really had to unlearn that anxiety that had been pressed into me unnaturally through parenting, so I get the struggle, I know it's real.

 

[aspen patchouli spirit]

This anxiety is what I feel like I get around where I live. I live in the midst of ranch country, so beef is its own food group here and it's hard to differentiate from that at restaurants a lot of the time. I just watched Paul McCartney's "If Slaughterhouses had Glass Walls" the other day, and now the thought of eating meat almost turns my stomach. I have only been going for a few days without meat, but I just managed to dine at a smokehouse without touching any meat. That is a feat that I am proud of.

 

[Veganite]

That is a feat that I am proud of.

Congrats!

Trust me, the longer you go without meat, the better you will feel, both mentally, and physically. Eventually, even the smell of it cooking will become repulsive.


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