Sometimes I get in these head and heart battles with myself. My heart is always wanting to educate people of the importance of veganism, spreading the vegan message to save our planet. While my head is always telling me to stop shoving it down people's throats, stop being "that annoying vegan", leave people be and be understanding of other people's decisions. After all, I consider myself a vegan because I am a compassionate individual. How can I be compassionate without being compassionate towards my fellow humans? What I've realized is that even though I can't change anybody, even though I myself cannot change the world, I can STILL spread the vegan message through love and compassion. I can still educate people, with an understanding heart. I can still show the vegan message without being "that annoying vegan." My own soulmate, the love of my life, my future husband, is a non vegan. For awhile, it kind of bugged me. He came from a polish, meat and cheese eating family that never even heard of veganism, let alone considered it. Before I met him, he lived on animal products, didn't even touch vegetables, let alone vegan food. But what I've realized, is that even though he isn't a vegan, he continues to support me in every way possible. He regularly cooks vegan food for us, sticks up for me when others comment on me being a vegan and continues to love and accept me for who I am. He even eats less meat than he did before and eats vegan meals with me quite often now. He is understanding that I will not go anywhere near meat, let alone cook it (lol). He listens to me when I'm ranting about Cecil the lion, and when I'm having a heart breaking moment of reality that I can't change the world. We have meaningful conversations about animals, watch documentaries together, and even though it may not hit home for him the way it does for me, he still gets it. When I first met my fiancé, he didn't give one flying fuck about any of this shit (to be fair, I didn't have much knowledge of it either). And even though he is not a vegan, he still shows much more interest and caring than before. He makes subtle changes in his everyday life. Ultimately, I fell in love with him long before I was vegan, and I knew I could never expect him to change. But relationships are about accepting one another, growing together and loving that person through thick and thin. The fact that he's made the small changes in his life means the absolute world to me. If I can do that for more people, if I can spread the vegan message through love and compassion to enough people; maybe have some try veganism, and also have some make small, subtle changes in their lives, that will be enough for me.
