ON THE WAY
It’s Saturday, 9 am. I am sitting on the train and with other activists I am going to the ”End Speciesism March” to Frankfurt.
I am very grateful and excited to be able to participate in this event that I have been waiting for.
So I look at the protest boards we have with us, the patches on my pants, which I was finishing sewing yesterday, the flags and I remember what it was like.
HOW IT WAS
I go back to my memories from the times when I ate meat. It feels like a completely different person. I remember what I used to be and every day I feel grateful for the fact that today I am the person I am.
My change began with me and self-love, being good to myself. This immediately resulted in being a good person to all living beings. The decision to go vegan was natural and automatic. I did not watch films depicting the suffering, exploitation and murder of animals, no one had to make me aware of it.
In my heart, I felt that I would be neither happy nor good if my existence was paid for by the suffering of any other being.
It was one of the best and most natural decisions of my life.
Maybe you’ve heard the phrase “as inside, so it is outside”. This is the truest truth. What you have inside manifests itself outside in your actions, decisions, way of being and treating others. So think about it for a moment.
Of course, this does not mean that I have become a saint or an enlightened one (unfortunately not yet :))
Someone can still piss me off, I will not like something or make a mistake, but the quality of my life for myself (with me) and the whole environment around me has improved enormously.
And I am a happy, good person filled with love and empathy.
When I started living a life that excludes death and the exploitation of animals, I had no idea it would lead me to where I am.
The decision to be active came as naturally as the decision to be vegan. I felt deep down in my heart that I wanted to do more than just support financially animal rights institutions. I felt that I wanted to actively participate in the fight for animal rights myself.
ANIMAL LIBERATION HUMAN LIBERATION
So we talk, exchange information and experiences on the train. There are always new people at every event. We share a common cause, similar views and love for vegan food. Because practically every event means a joint, vegan meal, new flavors, places, great, positive emotions and a huge amount of gratitude.
We are in Fraknfurt. I see familiar faces. And like all of us, I am happy that there are so many of us. So we start walking through the city, we are loud. It is a huge emotion, an experience, there are also tears.
People react variously, the most painful are indifference and disregard. If only I could make such people see with my eyes, feel what I feel in their hearts.
I am here because I am vegan, I believe we can create a world where all living creatures will have the same right to life, happiness and love. Because I cannot, I do not want to, and I will never agree to harm, exploit or kill animals. Any of us can end it. Your single decision has a huge impact on the whole world, creates it and affects what our common future will look like.
And for several hours we try our best to make other people open their eyes to the truth. We feel our enormous strength and unity.
People always went out on the streets to fight inequality, terror and injustice.
I feel like I’m in the right place with all my heart.
MAKE IT HAPPEN
And the march is coming to an end, despite the fatigue, each of us would like it to last longer.
Delicious dinner together in one of the great vegan restaurants and I’m on the train again.
I look at the faces of my vegan travel companions, remember the participants of today’s march and feel great gratitude for the presence of these people. I admire their determination, courage, faith and dedication. Such people change the world because people who have strong faith are unstoppable.
Veganism is love, diversity, well-being. Yours and other living creatures. This is a huge change for the better and it is simpler than you think. Open your heart to good and life. And look from a different perspective at what you have on your plate, how you treat others, what kind of person you are.
Start treating other life forms the way you would like to be treated yourself, start giving others the emotions you would like to be given yourself, give what you would like to get. Just start with yourself and put yourself in every being you come across, asking if I would like it for myself? Would I like to experience it, feel it, would I like it for myself what I do to this being?
Change starts with you and you decide what reality we live in.
