You have decided to go vegan. This is a fantastic decision. As a vegan, your life with be kinder to the environment because you will be leaving a smaller carbon foot-print. It will be kinder to the animals because you are decreasing the demand for their dead body parts, and it will be kinder to your body as you become healthier. We strongly suggest you also decide to be kind to yourself.
Most people find there are many details to consider as a vegan that they had not thought of earlier. You begin your vegan journey avoiding meat, dairy, eggs, and fish. You realise leather (and fur) is the skin of a dead animal, so you decide to stop buying leather goods. For the first few days you find this goes well, then you start discovering animal body parts lurking in many products you never expected them to be.
Rule number one is ‘do not beat yourself up’. You made the decision to go vegan for a reason. You have not failed because you discover something you ate or bought contained animal body parts. You have simply learned a lesson. Decide what you are going to do about it and keep moving forwards. Feel good about yourself for going vegan. Feel good about yourself that you were aware enough to notice an inconsistency in what you were doing. Feel good about yourself that you have made a decision to remove the inconsistency and move on.
Some people seem to be predisposed to feel bad about themselves when they realise they have not lived up to their expectations. Don’t. It is not helpful. Keep learning and keep moving forwards.
A good metaphor for life is to imagine you are a farmer growing crops. You must prepare the land, plant your seeds, tend the crops for a season, and at the end of the season you will have a harvest. This process cannot be hurried. You cannot grow crops overnight by working extra hard. Likewise, with you mind, your body, and the planet. The benefits of your vegan journey will appear over time. It is not an instant transformation.
Anything worthwhile takes time, and anything that takes time will run into problems along the way. Realise this now. When you strike problems, solve them, and move on. Problems are not the end of the world. They do not mean there is something wrong with you. They just mean there is a problem. Just solve the problem and move on.
Think of problems like weeds in your garden. When you see a weed in your garden you just pull it out and move on. You don’t fall into depression and start crying ‘why did god do this to me?’ Just learn and move on. Feel successful because you learned something. Do not start telling yourself you are a failure because you made a mistake or transgressed.
Accept that you will run into problems and accept that you will make decisions in the moment as you deal with them. Focus on being proud of the fact you have decided to go on this journey. See mistakes and problems you confront along the way as lessons.
Veganism has an element of idealism to it. You will continually be confronted with new information and new decisions to make. And because of the tension between vegan idealism and commercial society’s entrenched beliefs that animal exploitation is acceptable, you are going to become increasing aware of conflicts you need to resolve in your mind.
The Vegan Society (1988) definition of veganism is ‘… a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals …’
Pay particular attention to the phrase ‘—as far as is possible and practicable—’. Be kind to yourself when you find that what is possible and practical conflicts with your ideals. As time goes by, you will be confronted with more and more places in society you need to deal with this. Remember your commitment to love all sentient beings, but also remember to love yourself as much as you love every other sentient being on the planet.