Calling All Vegetarians! Get Your Priorities Straight. (Part 1)

Last night, I attended the year-end staff function of the company I work for.

The day prior to the event, one of my co-workers (we'll call her "Jan") asked me if I was going to be attending.  Jan happens to be a vegetarian, and she knows I'm predominantly a raw-vegan. 

I think Jan was asking me a leading question, because as soon as I told her "yes, I was planning to go", she promptly followed it up with the question, "But what are you going to eat?"

Changing the subject, I asked Jan if her husband was going.  She said that, because he's a vegan, he wouldn't be attending.  In fact, Jan was originally planning on skipping it herself, and only changed her mind when she heard about the vegetarian lasagna.

Keep in mind that this was a huge buffet with a bit of everything you can imagine.  The menu was announced well in advance, so we all knew what to expect.  There were the usual fish and red meat dishes, of course; however, there were also fresh cut vegetables, steamed cauliflower, carrots and green beans, mashed potatoes, and eight types of salad.

This was hardly a narrow assortment.  There was plenty to pick from.  

Yet still, even after the meal, I found Jan and another vegan co-worker complaining about how there was virtually nothing there for them to eat.

I find this to be ridiculous.

These are the same people who sit on their lunch breaks eating and drinking highly-processed foods like "soy nog" and veggie burgers on white buns, but they scoff at a full table of salads because of the choice of dressings or because there's a little butter in the potatoes?

This is a perfect example of two problems with many vegans/vegetarians today:

1. They blindly follow the notion that nothing is healthy unless it's totally plant-derived; and vice versa, anything plant-derived is healthy.
   
   
2. They've made their diet into their religion, and define their lives by it.

I have to question a person's priorities when the first thing they ask about an event is, "What are you going to eat there?" 

People like this look at everything with a perspective of, "Will it break my unyielding rules about veganism?"

I used to be this way when I started going raw, but I matured out of it.  At some point, once you've found a healthy lifestyle that works for you, you should move on to other things.  Don't keep nitpicking about it to the extreme. 

Your work here is done.  Now focus on the rest of your life.  Concentrate on some of the othere areas that matter, like your education, your career, your family, your fitness, the causes you believe in, the places you want to visit, and all the other items on life's big "To Do List".

Remember, food is the fuel our body uses to nourish itself and give us energy; a means to get us somewhere.  Once we've acquired a healthy, energetic body, we should be doing our best to use it to its full potential. 

Don't waste your life parading around as the local vegan "mall cop".  There are much bigger things for you to accomplish in life.  Don't forget that.

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Real-World Raw Health and Nutrition:
The raw food diet made easy for your busy life!

Mike Dillman is a self-taught raw-vegan who began his journey nearly five years ago.   Having worked his way through all the challenges firsthand, he wants to save you from making the same mistakes yourself.  You can visit Mike's blog at Real-World-Raw.com to learn how easy it can be to make a raw-vegan diet fit your busy lifestyle.

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Comments

[Lindsey]

Thank you for post. I just stumbled on it. I've been a vegetarian 6 days now and I'm glad I read this no :)