How to be Vegan?

When a new vegan tries to share their newfound information, they are often surprised that their family and friends not only show resistance to the idea, but often react with ridicule or anger. Combine this with the fact that ethical vegans view meat-eaters as supporting cruelty, and vegans can easily develop a near-hatred of meat-eaters. In fact, it can almost seem like it is a vegan's duty to avoid meat-eaters and boycott any event having meat out of protest. Many have gone through these stages. A common regret of veteran vegans is that they originally dealt with people with anger and outrage. However, in order to change the world for the animals, we must let the empathy and compassion we feel for animals shine through the pain and anger we feel about their exploitation. Unless non-vegans respect and admire us, as opposed to finding us cold and judgmental, they will have little interest in veganism. The main difficulty in staying friendly and respectful is our expectations - we expect that people will react the same way we do. We need to understand others and give them time to deal with their unique situation, rather than burning bridges, creating enemies, and feeding the stereotype of vegans as - to have no expectations of others.

The most important tool we have in the journey toward justice is our positive and sincere example. Looking at the long-term changes in society, it should be clear that each of us, in our example, actions, attitude - our entire existence - is changing the world. If we could focus all our energies on understanding and outreach, rather than on anger, the world would be significantly better off - as would we as individuals. Living consistently and compassionately as a vegan is an affirmation of life, a means to fulfillment and joy; these positive aspects of veganism are what we must embrace for ourselves and communicate to others.