Help! My Parents Won't Let Me Be Vegan. What Should I Do?
Jim Moore • December 9, 2019
Keep the Peace and Demonstrate Your Ability to Manage Your Life
Thank you for the question and good day to you.
Based on your question my response assumes that you live with your folks and they have substantial influence on the types of food in the household and the kinds of behavior encouraged and tolerated.
With the above in mind it seems that examining the reasons you wish to be vegan may be valuable. I see the following two paths down which that examination may lead.- You wish to be vegan because it is the lifestyle with which you can best promote peace in the world and do so while causing as little harm as is possible.
If so, that same motivation may reveal that in your current circumstance observing your folks’ wishes for your choice of nutrition and consumption may best promote peace in your family and save your relationship with your parents from harm. Being kind and considerate of animals is admirable, however, doing so while being embroiled in hurtful and stressful relationships with other humans seems counterproductive to the cause of a peaceful existence.
It is likely that some day you will no longer live in your parent’s household and new choices of how to express your dedication to peace will emerge. - You wish to be vegan because you believe it is the path that best promotes your physical health and well being. If that is the case, do you believe that your parents are also interested in your physical well being? Perhaps a thoughtful and respectful conversation with your parents regarding your common interest would yield positive results. Rather than focusing on what your parents will and will not allow you to do, focus your conversations on areas of common ground, express your appreciation of their concern for you, share your knowledge of how veganism can promote the outcomes in which you are all interested.
What ever the motivation for your interest in veganism, make being vegan your goal and dedicate yourself to making peaceful, stress-less, and joyous progress toward it each day. Do not consider the days that you have not accomplished your goal into failures but instead see them as the progress steps you are making. Seeing you being happy may have the greatest influence on your folks’ opinion of your thoughts and in their confidence in your ability to manage your life with less of their supervision.
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