I thought a vegan diet would be too difficult, being on the road

When Michelle Forbes declared, “I thought a vegan diet would be too difficult, being on the road so much, but it’s been far easier than I thought,” she spoke not merely of food, nor of diet, but of the mind’s illusions — the false barriers we build between ourselves and transformation. Her words are simple, yet behind them flows a current of profound truth: that what seems impossible often becomes natural once the heart commits. She reminds us that change, when guided by conviction, is not a burden but a liberation — that the difficulties we fear are but shadows cast by our own hesitation.

The ancients knew this wisdom well. They taught that the hardest part of any journey is not the path itself, but the first step upon it. When Forbes speaks of believing the vegan path to be too difficult, she echoes the doubts of every seeker before the threshold of growth. To abandon old habits — to eat, live, or think differently — is to confront the comfort of the known. Yet when she says, “it’s been far easier than I thought,” she proclaims a victory of spirit. For once the will is set upon a noble purpose, the universe reshapes itself to aid the endeavor. The difficulty dissolves, not because the road has changed, but because the traveler has.

To walk the vegan path is, in many ways, to return to harmony with life. It is a conscious act — an acknowledgment that the human spirit need not dominate to thrive. In this, her words recall the teachings of Pythagoras, the philosopher who, centuries before our time, preached compassion through a plant-based life. He believed that to live without cruelty was to purify not only the body but the soul. “As long as man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of living beings,” he said, “he will never know health or peace.” Forbes’s discovery of ease in such a lifestyle is a continuation of this ancient wisdom — that peace begins not with grand vows, but with small, steady acts of mindfulness.

Her reflection also reveals something deeper about the nature of fear. We often imagine difficulty where there is only unfamiliarity. The mind, untested, paints challenges as mountains; yet the heart, once committed, finds them to be but gentle hills. The same truth guided the journeys of explorers, artists, and reformers throughout history. Consider Mahatma Gandhi, who began his life as a timid lawyer, afraid to speak in public. When he first vowed to live by ahimsa, the principle of nonviolence — extending even to what he ate — he too feared the cost. But his restraint became his strength, his compassion his weapon. What he thought would weaken him instead made him unbreakable. So too does Forbes remind us: that which we dread may be the very thing that frees us.

There is humility in her tone, for she admits her initial doubt. And that humility itself is a form of wisdom. The wise do not claim perfection; they walk the path with openness, willing to learn that life’s greatest transformations come not through struggle, but through surrender. When she found the vegan way easier than expected, she uncovered an eternal truth — that alignment with one’s values lightens the spirit. To act in accordance with conscience removes the friction between desire and duty. Ease, therefore, is not the absence of challenge, but the presence of integrity.

Let us then take her words as both lesson and invitation. When you stand before any change — whether in diet, in habit, or in heart — do not be dismayed by the ghost of difficulty. Begin. Take one step, then another. For the path that seems steep from afar may, once walked, reveal itself as gentle. What we imagine to be sacrifice often turns to serenity; what we call restriction often becomes liberation. The body adapts, the mind expands, and the spirit rejoices in the freedom of authenticity.

Thus, O seeker of balance, remember Michelle Forbes’s quiet revelation. Do not let fear of hardship keep you from pursuing what is right or necessary. Whether your goal is compassion, health, or self-mastery, trust that the act of beginning will summon unseen strength. The mountain shrinks beneath the courage of those who climb. And in the end, like her, you too may look back and say: “It was far easier than I thought.” For when heart and purpose walk together, even the hardest path becomes a path of peace.