“I was just told by a ‘loved one’ today that I have no real friends, that I am all alone because of caring about animals so much. I was told that it would be better if I could just live my vegan life and let everyone else do as they please. That it is none of my business how others live. And that should something tragic happen to me that no one would come to my aide because I am really alone because of being who I am and feeling so strongly like I do. And I know there is some truth to this. I’m am certain I have lost family and friends because of this cause. I’m sure that it limits my ability to function fluently in the world because of my desire to fight injustice where I find it. But, yet, I wake up each day ready to risk such being true. The pig in the gestation crate, the cow desperately trying to exit the slaughter line and the baby chick sliding into the blades of the grinder, these animals may never call me their friend, they may never know or care what I was willing to do in their defense, but I call them my friends and I am the truest of friends to them. I will not abandon them should it cost me friends, I will not abandon them though it cause me stress and heartache. I will not give up on defending them until my final breath. It is who I am. I cannot be anything but that. I am not perfect in my methods. I may not always know the best approach to helping animals. And I may be guilty of caring too much and too passionately. But, I know that I will look back on a life spent trying to reduce the amount of suffering in the world being able to feel that I have done something worth feeling proud of. Whether or not I will ever truly make a difference or not, I will try to do all that I can. I will fight through my fear, I will ignore all my doubts in my abilities, and I will keep moving forward. Because for me, the only true failure would be the failure to do anything while so many suffer. As soldiers of compassion, it is a risk we are all willing to take and the cost we are willing to pay.” ~ Ryan Phillips

Filed under: Sanctifying Sentience by Scaughdt