how to keep us together...?!
Now, my family and I don't see eye to eye on this matter and they eat and buy all kinds of animal products that I don't want to see, smell or touch. I keep discussing this with them and want them to cut it out of their lives but they won't and now I'm beginning to distance myself from them and I can feel us slipping apart.
I don't know what to do because I keep having images of sweet living things crying and I feel like my family is taking part in this and I don't want to be close to them anymore.
What would you do?
Answers:
You need to decide what you want to do and if you are willing to live with the consequences. Make a list of what you could do about the situation. Ignore it. Keep trying to change them. Accept it and move on. And so forth. Then think realistically about each one. If I ignore it what will happen. If I accept it what will happen. But be honest with yourself. Cover the best scenario in each case but also cover the worst. Then decide if you can live with the worst. If you can, there is your answer. And sometimes you have to make choices that for a polite term, stink. Paraphrased for the net as my niece said to my Great Nephew "Sometimes your choice is it stinks and It REALLY stinks" Pick the best one to live with.
I'm not going to tell you that your family will see the light. They will only see it when they are ready to change. You can't change a darn thing. All you can do is make sure they have all information and let them choose. Otherwise as I say it is like trying to teach a pig to sing Opera. It only frustrates you and angers the pig.
You have to make some choices. I'm not going to pretty it up and say "Oh they will understand and come around, keep trying." or "Forget them." What IS important is can you live with the person in the mirror and do what is right for you.
I have the same problem with my husband. He was a vegetarian for a while, but just recently he decided to start eating meat again after everything we have read and researched together...So, imagine, i am pretty ticked off to the point that i consider him weak...LOL. Anyways, I would separate my food from theirs and try to avoid being around them when they are eating. Excuse yourself and leave the room. They will understand. Just remember, you make a difference! Stay strong.
You're going have to let it go. Sorry.
You can show them what they do and try to get them interested in the vegetarian idea but you can't force them to go veg if they don't want to.
stay strong and be proud. If you're really into the vegitarian scene, you should make up a list of groceries for your parents (or whoever buys all the food in the household).
They need to have some understanding. You're part of that family, and I'm sure if someone like maybe your dad had issues with dairy (this is just an example)
the rest of the family should follow through. If not, then there's a problem. For now, eat by yourself away from them if it bothers you. Or, rather buy your own food.
good luck :l
and also, maybe your family doesn't wanna switch their lifestyle because of the fat that eating healthy is, indeed, expensive. Why go to saladworks and get a salad for 10-20 bucks when you can go to mcdonalds and get a burger off the dollar menu, ya know? it's not and easy thing.
It is not meat eating that you are concerned with.... it is the treatment of the animals. Unfortunately, there will n-e-v-e-r be a stop to people eating meat. Meat is necessary to maintain health, and research supports this. To isolate yourself from any and all who choose to eat meat will shrink your world down to nothing. To toss your family aside because they choose to do something that you choose not to do is crazy.... especially since you are the one that visualizes the animals crying. Consider this.... plants are alive too. They reproduce as well. Is is possible that when they are cut down or harvested that they "cry" too??? When an apple is plucked from the tree, is it possible that this is painful for the tree?? If you truly want to help the animals, then campaign for humane treatment of them all the way through the slaughterhouse, rather than acting like a child and avoiding your family because they see things differently than you do.
Be patient. You'll probably be over this fad in a few months, years. Most kids, by far, go back to eating animal products pretty quickly.
If not, you simply have to decide how important your family is to you. If animal rights propaganda is more important than the love and closeness of your family, continue to berate them and demand they adhere to YOUR beliefs.
If you love your family and want to stay close to them, stop trying to tell them what's "right" or wrong. They have opinions and beliefs, just as you do. You aren't willing to accept theirs, why should you expect them to accept your beliefs?