Sorry for the provocative headline there, but lately I’ve been thinking about hard-headed learners.
You know the types. They know what they know, and they’re shocked if you don’t know it too. Some are worse than others, but even the ones that accept you for your beliefs will still be really slow to change theirs.
Oddly enough, it’s not my meat and potato loving friends that got me thinking about this. It’s some of the vegans and raw foodies.
When Good Healthy Living Goes Bad.
I was reading a story maybe a month back about a long-time vegan that had to go back to eating fish.
Did I mention this was after being vegan for 17 years?
The reason she went back to a more ‘normal’ diet was because she ran into some serious health issues caused by nutritional deficiencies. It’s easy to get away with a lot of deficiencies for years, but eventually they catch up with you. B12 will cause some real problems if you don’t get enough, but it can take over 10 or 15 years before those problems come up.
To make matters worse, a lot of my health peeps out there hold a lot of negativity for the medical community. I don’t blame them, but when you’re running the risk of being deficient, it’s not a good idea to refuse to take any of the tests that could let you know when you’re in trouble.
The Pain of Letting Go.
It’s good to feel like we’re right.
I used to feel smart that I was drinking soy milk instead of cow’s milk. Imagine, all those Americans drinking milk without even realizing how unhealthy it is!
Then last year I read into soy a bit. I didn’t want to believe it at first, but my favorite go-to source of vegan protein turned out to have some serious downsides. So what changes? Feel superior while drinking almond milk instead of soy milk?
Feel good about yourself because you’re making your almond milk raw at home instead of buying it from the store?
The Different Between Education and Indoctrination
I heard David Wolfe speak for the first time last thursday. It was amazing.
I loved his delivery, he’s obviously gotten very good at inspiring and teaching and communicating his wisdom.
The thing that caught my attention though, was his willingness to step outside normal labels. As a raw foodist, he specifically mentioned he integrates insects into his diet. He still doesn’t kill them himself, but he does eat matter that was once living. Turns out there’s no other way to get B12.
One big point that came up a few times when he was speaking, was that the real value in these teachings is the changes they can make in your life.
If they don’t quite live up to the hype, that means it’s time to keep learning. Time to keep exploring. If you can stay humble, grateful, and flexible, you can’t fail. It’s when you turn your way of life into a religion that you start running risks.
I’ve been 100% raw for almost three months now, and I haven’t quite gotten all the benefits I’m looking for. I’ve lost weight, my digestion is way better, I don’t need quite as much sleep, but I’m not 100% to my goals yet. All that means is I’m still on my journey. I haven’t arrived yet.
The last time you’ll ever need to be right.
I’ve got a simple challenge for you today.
Let go.
Do what you do, keep learning, but just make sure you’re keeping some humor and flexibility in there. Perfection is always just around the corner, we’re never going to arrive. The whole point of going on adventures and adopting new habits is to keep things fresh, keep things moving, and keep ourselves from taking our lifestyles and our beliefs too seriously.
As a followup challenge, if you’re one of the readers that’s 100% vegan, this week’s the week to call up your local nutritionist and arrange for some testing. Once you know what you’re missing, David Wolfe’s book “Superfoods” has been a great resource I’ve personally used to fill out all the nooks and crannies of my diet.
Namaste my friends,
James