I was raised in a vegetarian household. Eggs were allowed but meat has never been cooked in our house. That didn’t stop me from trying meat from a very young age. I also happened to like the taste and have happily indulged in non-vegetarian food for most of my life.
At some point last year, I got more interested in healthy eating and began to read more about raw foods and veganism. I also saw a documentary on Netflix that espoused the benefits of a plant based diet and I decided to make a conscious shift toward becoming a reborn vegetarian. For a couple of months, I refrained from eating any meat.
Sometime back, I made a trip to Kerala. Once I was there, a host of non-vegetarian delicacies were laid out in front of me. All of my resolve to stick to a vegetarian diet went up in barbecue flames.
In the larger scheme of things, it was no big deal, like relapsing on some sort of addiction. But the reason I indulged was because of the story I told myself — ‘one can’t truly experience a place if you don’t indulge in their local cuisine and delicacies’.
Like most of the stories we tell ourselves, this too was invented to suit my need.
A big corporation that treats employees with disdain does so because it tells itself that that’s how big corporations are supposed to do it.
A leader who throws their weight around does so because they believe that’s what leaders are supposed to do.
If you ask any of them why they’re doing what they’re doing, the answer you will get is ‘that’s how people/organisations like us are supposed to behave’.
Cultures, habits and behaviors are all well-told stories.
This also means to change any of them, you have to change the story you tell yourself about them.
