Living Consciously.
Throughout my life, I have been surrounded by conflicting ideas about food. My dad, Jeff, is an avid game hunter, spent many of his weekends out in the woods hunting whatever happened to be in season. With his hunting adventures, my family became accustomed to eating all sorts of uncommon meats; we would have everything from venison sausage to pheasant chili. We never waste any of the meat he brings home from hunting and I have learned to love a lot of these less popular proteins.
On the other hand, my mother turned vegan when I was a junior in high school. She is a health nut with a drive to learn about all things food and nutrition any chance she gets. My parents have very conflicting feelings towards eating meat but they have melded their lifestyles in a way where they both are happy, healthy and above all else, aware of the food they choose to consume and provide for my two sisters and me.
Everyone always asks me, “How does your mom deal with the hunting?” or “Does your dad have to eat vegan?” Interestingly, they just make it work! They both compromise, my mom never refuses to cook or try meat while my dad will eat just about any vegan item in front of him. They make it work and find even find ways to respect each other’s differing viewpoints.
My mom’s take on my dad’s love of hunting illustrates that quite well.
“It’s something I personally could never do but I can appreciate that he always uses the animals he kills. He never wastes and honestly, at least they have lived a free life and haven’t been pumped with chemicals like so many animals people eat these days.”
Her decision to refrain from eating animal proteins stems from the mistreatment of animals but is strongly reinforced with the health benefits of cutting meat out of our diets. She occasionally eats a few bites of the meat my dad brings home, but in extreme moderation most of the time she opts to go the vegan route.
I feel lucky that I have grown up in a house where I was taught a lot about two very different takes on nutrition. My dad respects my mom’s choice to not eat meat unless she feels it has been killed humanely and hasn’t been mass-produced and distributed. And he has learned to more conscious. My sisters and I have all had the opportunity to make our own informed decisions, without pressure, about the diets we choose. And with experiencing two very different takes on nutrition, the one take away we all have gotten is that being conscious of the food we consume is the most important thing.
With this, I have recently decided I needed to find my own beliefs. I have always stayed pretty middle ground, but the more I learn about health and wellness the more I feel the need to make a change for the better. The first step in this process was to hit the books! Sure enough, right off the bat, I found myself inspired while reading, Radiant Beauty: Your Healthy & Organic Guide to Total Body Well-being. Author, Mary-Beth Janssen says,
“Our thoughts, beliefs, feelings and values deeply affect how we live. This is our consciousness guiding us. By exploring ways to live more consciously, we broaden the possibilities for peak experiences. This is all integral to living an organic lifestyle, a conscious and purposeful decisions made from a heightened awareness that precipitates great positive change.”
It is clear while reading and researching deeper into the organic living that there is always so much to learn. There is always new and improved ways to stay healthy but at the end of the day, I believe living consciously is the first step to being healthy and treating your body right.
