For anyone who isn't yet Vegan,
it can seem like an unnattainable lifestyle
We've been raised to eat animals and most of us become addicted to their taste
When an action has been repeatedly normalised, it can feel impossible changing to something else
But being Vegan in itself is easy
Veganism is just about not exploiting and consuming animals
After a few weeks of experimenting with new foods and products, new habits form and it becomes effortless
We discover new tastes and recipes we hadn't tried before, find Vegan versions of our favourite meals
and most of the time we find a whole new appreciation for food and nutrition and love it more than we ever had before
The real difficulty in being Vegan doesn't involve food
The hardest part about being Vegan is coming face to face with a darker side of humanity
and trying to remain hopeful
It's trying to understand why otherwise good and caring people continue to participate in needless violence against animals
just for the sake of their pleasure or convenience
When you first discover Veganism, you have to deal with the fact that you've been lied to most of your life
You have to accept that as you were growing up, the people you thought you could trust, stole your compassion
and taught you that it was okay to harm others
They corrupted your mind without you realising and gave you justifications to stop you from thinking about it
And you have to realise that the adverts that made you smile and laugh were just tricking you into giving the money for products
that make you sick and destroy the planet
You have to deal with the fact that they used happy cartoons and loving slogans to sell tortured, slaughtered animals
And you fell for it
And when you start to realise this, you naively think that you've discovered a secret that the world needs to hear
so you do everything you can to share the new truths you've learned
You tell everyone you know about Veganism
hoping they'll understand and change like you did when you made the connection
But they don't
They give you excuses that don't make sense and refuse to listen to reason
You find your family and closest friends defending animal abuse because they're too scared to change
And you don't know how to react to their indifference
You're trying to help them and help innocent animals but they accuse you of attacking them
and become defensive everytime you talk about Veganism
You have arguments and start to lose respect for those you love the most
And you become isolated
You can't stop thinking about the images of animals being queued up to be systematically slaughtered
You feel so powerless and just wish people would listen
And at the same time the people around you start to mock you and ridicule you for being different
They make insensitive jokes and you do your best to see the funny side of what they're saying
then come home and realise that they were laughing about animal abuse as if it was acceptable
It's been said that enlightenment is bittersweet
because in one hand it is wonderful to know the truth, live the truth and share the truth
But it is also maddening to realise how cruel and ignorant our species can be
But that's not a reason to shy away from doing what's right
All throughout time the ones on the right side of justice have always faced resistance
But it's always been worth it
Becuase what is the hardest part about being Vegan is also the most rewarding part
The longer you're Vegan, you find better ways of explaining to others and sooner or later someone will listen
And more people will open up and listen to what you have to say
And people you thought you'd never get through to will thank you for changing their life
The seeds you planted from the beginning will start to grow and you'll understand the importance of patience and persistance
You find other Vegans and learn to love humanity again
realising that there are good people out there
But through the process of letting go you welcome so many beautiful people into your life who share more in common with you
And as hard as it is to move on from the past,
you become happier in the long run
And it gives you a reason to get up everday
It's no longer just about you
Veganism teaches you to look beyond yourself and think about others
And through your activism you learn to never apologise for speaking up
Because if you're right and you know it,
you have to speak up
Even if you're just one person against the whole world, the truth is still the truth
Exposing the lies and injustice becomes your purpose
And you become such a shining version of yourself that you inspire others arouund you without even trying
You inspire compassion through your fearlessness and uncompromising passion to make the world less selfish
And the best lesson you'll ever learn is that life's not about feeling amazing all the time
It's about accepting the pain and fear
And doing something anyway
not because you want to
but because you have to
There's so much evil on this planet
But that shouldn't make us sad
It should make us desperate to help
”Because this is not some mundane diet choice
This is the difference between enslavement and freedom
Between torture and peace
Between death and life
This is serious
And you understand it and you are part of this revolution ”
”The people that think Veganism is hard are thinking about themselves
And the people that think Veganism is easy are thinking about the animals
So if you think it's hard to not eat meat, think how hard it is for them that you do eat meat”
Subtitles by the Amara.org community