Judgement Day

It really started as a normal day. I felt great, had a little fruit in the morning and some cereal, weather was nice,you know one of those days where everything seemed to be good. I had a little extra pocket money so I figured I would go up to the Organic market and have a nice lunch. When I got there I was standing in line looking over the menu when I noticed a man standing next to me staring. I casually looked over in his direction and saw that he was looking me up and down, but when he saw I was looking at him he quickly looked away. I did not think much about it until I heard a laugh behind me and as most people would do they would look in that direction, which I did. Apparently these people did not see me look at them, because I saw one of them puff out their cheeks(like they were imitating a fat person) and roll their eyes at the other person, and make a comment that I could not understand. At that moment they met eyes with me and I knew instantly, this was about me. They had that look of being caught and they were obviously uncomfortable. My heart sank. I was humiliated and sick to my stomach. As I looked up at the menu my appetite was gone and I slowly just turned to leave the store. As I walked to my vehicle ,a 39 year old man, I had tears in my eyes from the utter discust of how I felt about myself at that very moment. I did not want to be me. How could I go from feeling so good to feeling so sick so fast. I sat in my vehicle , no radio, no sounds, just the situation playing over and over in my head. I thought, here I am at a place in my life that I thought I was doing so well and then this. Then I realized where I was. I was at a market where most of the people that come there are Vegatarians or Vegans. These are people that promote cruelty free living! Well, cruelty free living is not what I saw today. Sure its great to save our animals but that sure does not mean treat people like I was treated. You see these people did not even know that I am on my second week as a Vegan. They saw what was on the outside, a work in progress. You never know who you are looking at. I was so sad, my faith in the human testamony sure dwindled today, but as I thought about it throughout the day I realized that even when I only have 5 pounds extra on me there is going to be someone out there that notices it. So what does that mean? It means that we must continue the fight , without concern for others opinions. I am in this venture, this lifestyle change ,for me. I will have opposition regularly, but thats life. Every day I live cruelty free,Vegan,I can feel good about myself. If I stayed fat for the rest of my life, thats not the point, the point is my lifestyle, how do I influence others, treat others, treat the world I live in,and all the creatures in it. That is the legacy I will leave, not what I looked like. So maybe having that experience today proved valuable after all!