The Joy of Being Vegetarian

Do you ever have one of those intense reminders of why you're vegetarian? In the last 24 hours I've had two--and they were both so powerful.

My husband got a documentary on Netflix for us called "The Cove." (I highly recommend it.) It shows how dolphins are captured and taken into captivity and how this industry supports dolphin killing and the eating of their meat (Yes! It's served to Japanese school children and is very toxic--poisoned with lead and mercury). There was one scene in the movie that just burned in my mind. One of the captured dolphins was trying to break through the net to swim free. It was thrashing like mad, splashing everywhere frantically...and it went on with that violent desperation and intensity for minutes straight. The will to survive that all living things have...how miraculous.

My next reminder of the joy of being vegetarian was in watching 60 Minutes (recorded on the DVR from last Sunday). They did a story on elephant communication and how scientists are working on creating an elephant dictionary. Anyway, from the scientist's observation tower at the edge of the elephant's watering hole, she saw how the elephant community reacted to the body of a dead baby elephant laying out in the mud. The footage just grabbed me! The elephants milled around it making distress calls. For days, they formed a kind of receiving line and mournfully walked past the dead baby. Each elephant that passed the body would touch it gently with its trunk. This was the clencher for me: several adult elephants tried to lift the dead baby onto its feet. Over and over again, they tried to pick the baby up, and it would slump back into the mud.

Vegetarians, we make a difference. At the end of each one of our lives, we will never have to wonder if we left a mark or changed a life. It's hard to live outside of the box. Statistics show that as little as 3% of the US population is vegetarian or vegan. Everyday we stand up to scrutiny and ridicule for doing what is right. Take a minute today to feel good about your lifestyle as a vegetarian...to feel the joy of being vegetarian.