Here’s a line I’ve heard quite a few times from my brain in the past year: “Oh, I could never do that.” Case-and-point:
1. Oh, I could never be vegan. I like cheese too much. Became vegan June 2012
2. Paper towels are necessity. Gave up disposable towels September 2011
3. But I’ll always need toothpaste. Brushing dry since October 2012
4. Clinical strength antiperspirant is the only way my pits stay smelling nice. Stink-free with baking soda, arrowroot, tea tree & coconut oils since August 2012
I gave up plastic chicken. That was a good decision.
5. But I’ll always need chicken. Happy husband even without the packaged industrialized poultry since July 2012 (though we do buy bacon and pork chops at a local county meat store if he wants it)
Politicians would call me a flip-flopper, but I’m okay with changing my mind about something, especially if it edges on compromising my values. If we never changed our mind about a particular subject, how would we learn? Growing up, Democrats were “evil” and Republicans were “sent from God to help the country”. Today, Nancy Pelosi still sports an imaginary witch hat when I spot her on C-SPAN, but I’ve realized how skewed my views were, merely because someone told me what to believe, and I accepted it. When we use our knowledge to figure out why something is the way it is, we can decide for ourselves which stance we want to have.
Read a book instead of painting nails with toxic chemicals!
Why do I wear nail polish? Because it makes my fingers look festive and other people think I’m more attractive. Wow, THAT’S your logic? What about the toxins inside the polish that make their way into your body when you chew on your nails? What about the waste? The cost? The ten minutes it takes to pick out a freaking proper shade of red? You want this? Touché, myself. Let’s go read a book.
Good progress happens when we challenge our current way of thinking. It’s okay to flip flop. It’s not okay to wear flip flops on a wet surface. But I’ll let you decide that for yourself.
Awesome that you went vegan! That is my goal as well. For the longest time thought I couldn’t give up meat, but I have. I think it’s healthy to challenge ourselves and our our beliefs to be the best we can.
I also became vegan this summer (just about… I eat farm-fresh eggs from a local woman whose chickens are allowed to be chickens). And to think, without the internet we never would have realized we were blog twins.
I do terribly miss cheese though.
Tell me your tooth brushing secrets. I used baking soda with peppermint oil last night, it wasn’t so bad!