Dealing with the critics…

Dear Readers,

So now its official… 😀

Today, in this post, I think I will focus on dealing with criticism as a vegan or as an aspiring vegan, often the comment is made to me by many different people, that they ‘admire me, but couldn’t be me’. This frustrates me. Anyone can be me, many people are making the change every day, as veganism is growing in popularity and attracting more attention, receiving more publicity and more celebrities are beginning to catch on from Beyonce or Natalie Portman (who incidentally read the same book ‘Eating Animals’ as I did which was extremely influential in my decision to change my eating habits) to Jim Morris(a bodybuilder) and Bill Clinton, the easier it becomes! More products are being created for us, more restaurants and stores cater for us and more people are aware about us. This is brilliant and should be great encouragement to any non-vegans who may be reading this blog.

Answering people’s questions about your new lifestyle is often the most challenging part, as it becomes more of an interrogation than an interest on their part, where you are made to feel as if you are the one in the wrong, as if you are the odd one out, the crazy one. Once becoming vegan, like it or not you are now a role model for veganism, your actions, what you say about the cause and your opinions that you tell people at these times all add to the overall image of this lifestyle. Which makes each and everyone of us vegans hugely important to development and acceptance in society of this lifestyle!

Often when people begin asking me lots of questions I struggle to answer them, which in part is why i wanted to do this blog, when people spring an array of questions on me, I stumble over my words, get my facts confused and generally create the idea that I hardly no anything on the subject. Which is not the case. But under the pressure of trying to impress and convince the people asking you these questions, this always happens, especially as the more questions they ask the more they seem to be trying to pick holes in anything I have to say. Apart from anything else this can be demoralising when starting on this lifestyle as peoples arguments against veganism are constantly being forced upon you and even start to make you question yourself and your decision but the fact is as many arguments as they can find against veganism there is just as many FOR our cause.

If you are like me and perhaps the only person you know who is a vegan it can be hard to always be the odd one out, the difficult one that people always say o you ‘oh come on, stop being difficult, you ate dairy a month ago, just do it tonight so we can go to this restaurant (or something)’ and you always want to agree because you don’t want to cause so much problems but actually your not the problem, society makes you feel like your choice is wrong by not catering for it, but imagine if all the restraints and shops etc were all vegan based and you were the meat eater you would feel like the odd one out, a strange scenario but hopefully you understand the point I’m trying to make is just because meat eating is seen as the ‘norm’ in society does not mean it its the right thing and most certainly does NOT mean you should conform. CHANGE WILL HAPPEN BECAUSE OF PEOPLE LIKE US. As more people join our cause and raise awareness more restraints etc will cater for us and we will be as common as a vegetarian. Okay I’ve gone on a tangent but hopefully you see my point. If you are looking for more advice and ways to respond to difficult questions people ask you, or are just generally interested in finding out more about becoming a vegan and living as one visit PETA’s website- http://www.peta.org.uk/living/ and of course as I develop my blog i hope you will be able to use the information i give you to support you journey to this lifestyle!

Criticism is going to happen. There is no way of avoiding it. People will ask questions. Don’t shy away from them. Spreading and sharing this lifestyle is so important, and is how we can start to make a difference to the way people think who have been convinced by society that a meat lifestyle is the way forward, it is essential for a healthy diet, but this is not the case. Listen to yourself, listen to me, listen to all the influential vegans in the world who are just trying to make our world a better place, standing up for animals and giving them a voice they would not have with out us, don’t listen to the corrupt meat and dairy industry which are money making businesses profiting of you. I will go into more detail of this on another post. But for now I hope I have instilled some sense of mental strength and hope for anyone who like me is finding dealing with the critics of veganism hugely demoralising. Don’t let it get to you. Remain strong and always stay true to your belief, even when it feels wrong, you are the courageous one, making a stand for what you believe in, and YOU are making more of a difference than you could possibly imagine, which I thank you for on behalf of all the animals, vegans and the planet! Long may it continue!

Heres to a better future, until next time, charlotte xxxx

June 17, 2015June 17, 2015 by poweriswithyou Categories: veganTags: change, criticism, lifestyle, vegan 3 Comments