Why are people still so shocked?
Namaste,
It is a strange thing. I have now been a proper vegetarian for over a year and a half, and I find - if anything - I am now enjoying food more than ever, and not just through taste sensation alone. It's not because I'm deprived of eating meat or fish or seafoods, and have "come to accept my fate" either, as someone might point out to me for my unusual love of veggies. I know that my overall health is better than it ever has been in my life, I have a smaller appetite and am more disciplined when it comes to having to skip meals. I'm not aching with the pain of hunger when I smell a BBQ and if I feel lazy, I can eat my food uncooked. It's no surprise vegetarians live longer, have fewer gastro-intestinal complaints and because they consume vegetables as opposed to meat, they actually contribute to water conservation as well as land conservation. One frightening statistic I read the other day showed that 30% of the Earth's land is used for rearing livestock and cattle! Shocking.
The reason I'm bringing all of this up is because I notice that even after 6 years of a (mostly!) vegetarian lifestyle, I still find people look at me like I have three heads when they learn I am vegetarian by choice. Why? they still ask. Now, correct me if I'm wrong but my knowledge was that overall the numbers of people eating more vegetarian foods (not necessarily abstaining entirely from meat, but reducing intake of it) was increasing worldwide? Now more than ever people have access to a wide range of healthy and organic vegetables, lentils and cereals. Medical science has shown again that not only is being vegetarian not harmful, as many very old-fashioned people will believe, but that it is in fact the preferred lifestyle. Less red meat, more wholegrains, cereals and fresh fruits.
I'm not offended when people ask me why I'm still vegetarian. I don't expect people to hold the same beliefs as I do about ahimsa, but I am in some wonder as to why this still hasn't abated after more than half a decade of something that is mostly good, not just for me, but everyone else? Does anyone else have similar experiences on this?
Shanti
Om namah Shivaya
"Watch your thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, they become your character.
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny."
ॐ गं गणपतये नमः
Om Gam Ganapataye namah
लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु ।
Lokaah SamastaaH Sukhino Bhavantu
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