Myth # 83 : " I wish I had your willpower ."
Myth # 83 : " I wish I had your willpower ."
Well first of all , a mere lack of willpower is never an acceptable excuse for causing other beings to suffer – ever ... That having been said , I have some Good News for all of you : You already have all the willpower you will ever need !
That ' s right ... As it turns out , willpower is not something that some of us are born with and some are not , or that some of us are taught by our parents and some are not , or that some of us learn in school and some do not , or that some of us are gifted from a mentor and some are not . No , my friends , willpower is something we all have at our disposal ; fully & completely , every single day over the entirety of our lives . For each & every one of us , willpower is not a gift ; it is a given … Indeed , for each & every one of us , willpower is not chosen for us ; it is a choice we are allowed to make .
Just as true courage is not the absence of fear , but rather behaving bravely while feeling afraid , so too is willpower not the absence of doubt or desire , but simply behaving selflessly while feeling unsure or selfish .
Yes , you might be addicted to meat & dairy ... Ditch them anyway ! Yes , you might be ostracized by your friends ... Care for the animals anyway ! Yes , you might be ridiculed by your family ... Stand for justice anyway !
My dear Friends , each & every one of you is an incredibly Strong and incredibly Kind and incredibly ethical Humane ( e ) Being ... Of this I have no doubt . Now all that remains is for you – one meal at a time – to simply realign your actions with those noble qualities , and bring your real Caring Self back into Being .
Thank you .
Current status of this Myth : Busted Justification it provides for eating animals : NONE
“ It ’ s not that some people have willpower and some don ’ t . It ’ s that some people choose to be courageous in their caring while others remain mired in ethical apathy and moral sloth … How did I go from eating hot dogs , bacon , hamburgers , steak , chicken , fish , cheese , milk , and eggs to not eating any of it ? It was simple . First , I learned that animals suffer terribly when they ' re turned into food – and that they fully enjoy living their lives when they aren ’ t . Then I learned that I don ' t need to eat animals at all to live a long & healthy life . Then I remembered that eating animals is inconsistent with the fundamental values I cherish the most – Justice , Kindness , Compassion , Decency & Love . And finally , I simply stopped eating them … Animals are not here for us to abuse in any way , and I now understand that they certainly aren ’ t here for us to eat either . Spend time with some of them at any farm sanctuary and you ' ll surely agree … So what does it take to stop eating animals ? Well , first you need to have an open-mind and learn the facts about animals and animal agriculture . Then you have to remember that you really are a Good & Kind & Caring person . And finally you have to make a little effort to align your actions with those values … That ' s it .” ~ inspired by James Gordon & Andrew Kirschner
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