Well... I have just realised that I did not write a blog post in over a month.. wow! Times flies...
I have been busy... dealing with personal stuff...
I have been busy reflecting on my past and analyzing my present and design my future...
I have been busy mourning, yet more people, still alive, who are abandoning what they call a "fake ship"...
I needed time to figure things out and I did just that... I am coming back once again stronger then ever and believing in myself and what I support even more then before...
Change is difficult: It comes with a price...
the ones of you who are friends with me on FB have seen that sentence a few times in the last few weeks...
What I omitted to say, because I could not see it at the time, is that it also comes with rewards... once the "price is paid"...
In the last few weeks I have been called a few things... words I do not dare say here because they come from people who are stressed out and sick and cannot see the end to it... people who used to believe in me but are abandoning me because "change is too difficult" for them and they rather stay as they are then try and feel better... and that is OK. No grudges hold.
I have to say that this current post was in part inspired by a friend of mine who made a nice post on FB yesterday.... we see so many "fake stuff" or "lies"... we see so many people pretending to have life they don't... she was really honest on who she is and I admired that... I tough I might do the same here.
I will not excuse myself for what I am about to say... this is what I believe with all my heart and I will not change my mind... at any cost.. now you can or cannot agree with me 100% but that does not change anything with me... with mutual acceptance I do respect you and I understand that not everyone can and will live like me. This is all right with me despite what some people think my opinion on this is. I am more tolerant and flexible and respectful than some people think. I just do not see the point in surrounding myself with people who criticize me all the time.
I am vegan... I eat a whole food, plant based, starch based, low fat diet with as little as 5% of my food coming for a package. I do not eat out more then 5% of the time and when I do, I am this annoying orderer that ask for exceptions and replacements... I do not care about this anymore... if I am paying for my food and I have to put it into my body, I choose how I want it... and you know what, ask nicely with a smile, no server ever gave me a hard time!
On that note, I do believe that the way I eat is the healthiest... and quite frankly the only way to eat to be healthy all your life. I understand that being healthy comes in different shades of grey but to be completely healthy there are not many options... this has been proven over and over again in many different places on this planet and in many different studies by independent doctors.
Why is this information not more readily available? because politicians and big corporations have no interest in having this information come out... if everyone would start eating like I do overnight, the economy would crash... and since money rules the world, a lot of wealthy people are working a lot and spending the big bucks to come up with false/biased studies to reassure most people... to reassure the masses and it works.
Now if you want to eat the standard American diet... any version of it, that is your choice and I will respect it, however, do not try and convince me that this is the right thing to do by showing me studies paid for by the meat/dairy industries... or having me read something in a mainstream newspaper. I simple won't believe it.
One more thing, do not come to me to complain about such and such disease if you are unwilling to change anything to feel better... there is nothing I can do for you.
Another thing with veganism is that it is proven to decrease the number of diseases... therefore save money to government and hence us regular people... if less people would be sick, we'd pay less taxes! If you do not do it for your health, think of other people... or your wallet! And while thinking of others, think of the fact that people worldwide are starving because you want to eat you ribs, or steak... if you don't care about your own health, you may not care about that of others but I do not think that anyone can be insensible to a starving child in Africa. One last thing while I am on the compassionate subject: if most of you keep eating the American diet, the planet will be destroyed much faster then you can even imagine... is this what you want to leave to your kids/grand kids?
I am therefore saying that if you do not opt for a vegan diet for yourself, maybe you'll do it for the animals in the Amazonian forest... or the starving kids in Africa... the polar bears... or you kids/grand kids future. Have some compassion.
I am a minimalist for essentially the same reasons... we cannot keep using all the raw material we used indefinitely... all raw materials are finite. We cannot keep on filling our landfills at the pace we do now because we'll end up having no room for trash in a few years.... maybe sooner then we think.
I am also a minimalist because I refuse to let some big corporation decide for me what I want/need. I believe in free will... I believe that I can make a choice about what I want/need. I believe that there is more to life then working my ass off to earn big dollars to buy stuff someone decided I needed... I believe that life is more then a $ sign... I believe in experiences... meeting new people... I believe in sunbathing, walking in the rain and reading... I believe in being there for my son when he gets back from school with a batch or warm vegan cookies... and us having one while sipping tea and chit chatting about our day... I believe in making most of the stuff I need... I believe in finding new purposes to the stuff I no longer need... I do not wish to keep up with the Joneses because I have never met anyone who did it that were satisfied with their life... including me! I was there... I was like that... and I decided to change because I didn't want to be stress anymore... I wanted to live a simpler life... a more meaningful life so I decided to chase something else then possessions. This is what I believe... and I am, once again, convince that this is the best way to be stress free and happy... as proven, there again, by numerous populations worldwide... that have not yet embarked in the American lifestyle... and are stress free.... no crime incidence... paradise on earth.
If you ever want to give me a gift, make it something you bake or made with your hands.... make it something that makes me think of you when I see it... make i something I can consume or use on a daily basis... or just don't give me anything but a nice hug before we have a cup of tea... I no longer have use for stuff (and I may have been one of the worst/most over consumer I ever knew)... And I understand that it may not be your case, that you may lie your life filled with a house and cars and pools and furnished rooms and overflowing closets... and that is OK... Trust me, I understand, years ago I could never have imagine myself living the way I do now... but life happens.
This is who I am... and I will not change... this is what I believe is the way to live for a sustainable future... I live a life of compassion... and some people think I am inflexible/strict, etc... and it is right... I am strict with my lifestyle because I do not see how living any other way could bring me more pleasure/satisfaction...
I am had core... yes....
I understand that not all of you may join me.... but I am calling upon those who want a more sustainable/happier/stress free/compassionate lifestyle...
I have to understand that people may feel threaten and this will not bring the best out of them... but this is who I am... and although I understand and respect the fact that you may not understand/join me in my lifestyle, I will never tolerate the lack of respect... this is why, I am offering you a chance to unfriend/stop following me me with no harsh feeling and no grudges hold.... I'd rather keep like minded people or people who are aiming toward a similar lifestyle to mine... I want to concentrate on people who want to turn their life around and "forget" about the ones I cannot help... Whether we've known each other for ever, whether we are family or not.... wheter we just met... if you do not agree with how I live... if I am in no way an inspiration to you, go ahead and move on... feel free to do so!
This is my calling.... this is my way to change the world... this is the only way I am happy.... writing what I think/believe is right and share.. and help others... when I don't do it or start censuring myself to "please" the mass I start dying a little inside... I do not want this to happen...
It does come with a price... I changed radically over the last few years and hence the people I was surrounded by used to be my tribe for the lifestyle I used to live.... now when you change as much as I did, your tribe will most likely not follow... not all the way anyway.... and loosing members one by one is painful but is a necessary price to build a new tribe... every time I loose a tribe member, I gain a new one... and that is life... as a minimalist, I cannot be attached to stuff or money.... or people.... people come and people go... all will remain in my heart and will not be forgotten but not all can follow.... and that is OK. That is more then OK.
The last few weeks have been very hard on myself and at one point I was ready to give up... to stop saying what I think.... to stop trying to help people... to close this blog and my FB page as well as my Google+ profile... but after many walks by the lake... many meditations/yoga sessions... many discussions with close friends I decided to keep on going... not count my losses anymore but concentrate on my gains... stop focusing on the price and start counting the rewards...
because I am a good person who's only wish is to meet like minded people and start a revolution in this world... start changing this work to make it a better place... " I have a dream", "be the change you want to see", "Imagine all the people..." all are sentences I go by... M.Luther King, Gandhi and John Lennon are all very inspirational to me...
and this is why I am calling to you my like minded readers... please share this post and add my as a FB friend if you want... ask you friend to join us in this community of "world changer" because the more the merrier... and because if we do not give up, we will succeed!!!
love&peace,
nath
xox
http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=734016786
