NEW YEAR, NEW YOU / Be a LIGHT HOUSE not a tug boat.

Sometimes when you make a positive change in your life you’re hit with resistance where you thought there would be support. This is especially true for food and health. There are a few reasons for this and a big one is we’ve mostly learned our bad habits from those closest to us and they may feel that a change, as good as it might be, is a rejection of them - or that they did something wrong. It’s not so much genetics that are responsible for similar health issues in a family as much as it is that everyone sits at the same table. It takes time for loved ones to realize that thanksgiving is about family and being together and not the turkey. We can put rosemary, sage and thyme on anything and get the same festive flavors. Another reason is that as gentle as you are in your approach you can become a mirror. Just your presence as a vegan can reflect back to others what they’re doing and that makes them uncomfortable. There’s not much you can do about this one and there’s a reason we don’t see what goes on in animal production and slaughter houses. We all kind of know what’s going on under the surface but we don’t want to look or be reminded of it. Food is a social lubricant and our lives seem to revolve around it, so any major change, or even thinking about making a change, is scary to others. Keep in mind too that from the Got Milk campaigns in schools, to misinformation on the internet, fad diets in the magazine isle, and meat/dairy on every billboard and tv commercial, it’s an uphill battle to ask others to swim against the current even though the rewards seem so amazing. The deck is stacked against us. Finally, whole food plant based vegan has nothing to sell, there’s no “big broccoli” lobbyists, and there are no gimmicks, pills, etc to be profited from. If you do it, it works. There’s no fine print and results are typical. However, it exists in an arena of “wellness” which is crowded with hucksters and charlatans so people are naturally skeptical. There are more reasons too but don’t take it personally if everyone isn’t as excited about your WFPB vegan transition as you are. They say you preach the sermon you most need to hear - and boy is that true for us on this one. We are naturally positive people but an interesting thing happened at the start of our vegan journey - we went negative. We felt like a million bucks but saw a world full of animals lovers hurting themselves, animals, and the planet through what they ate so we figured this was an easy fix. We just needed to tell them and they would be as appalled as we were, wanting get healthier, and they’d all do a 180 overnight. Of course that didn’t happen but at the time we were shocked. Our posts went more graphic and our words were sharper. This isn’t to downplay any one approach to bringing about change on such an important issue, but for us it wasn’t who we were. We realized that debate and shame weren’t going to work for us and the best “sales pitch” we had was to live a happy, heathy, and vibrant life. Helping others who were interested, but not preaching to the resistant. It’s also important to keep in mind we’re all constantly planting seeds wether we know it or not and sometimes they just take a little longer to take root than we might expect. But don’t let that discourage you. We’ve found that those who seem to be the most skeptical and have lots of questions are actually the closest to making a change. They’re thinking critically and working through some of the issues we talked about above - so try to stay positive and be the light house. Finally, something we remind ourselves over and over is that for a majority of our lives we were not vegan. So when family members, role models, and best friends don’t initially embrace your new life don’t take it personally. This is harder done than said but it’s critical. You could burn out, they might pull away, and as urgently as we want to help them improve their health, save the animals, and the planet, it needs to be their decision for the change to last. Again, the best argument/motivation will be you thriving! We regularly receive messages from folks we had no idea were considering a WFPB vegan lifestyle but were keeping tabs on what we were up to and are now ready to give it a try. So don’t be discouraged and know that others are watching and taking note. So shine bright! As always if there is anything we can do to help you make a change for compassion, health, and the planet please let us know. We have a bunch of cooking classes and events coming up at Peacefield, we’d love to answer any questions, recommend resources, take you to the grocery store, etc. You can do it - and we’re here to help! Photo taken at Leilani Farm Sanctuary in Maui by our hero Laurelee at Leilani Farm Sanctuary of Maui