Articles Reflecting a Vegan Lifestyle used with permission from All-Creatures.org

Mariquita Solis shares a moment from her life when she regretted not saying more for the creatures and reminds us to have compassion for ourselves when our best falls short of our ideal.

What If
From Mariquita Solis, VLCE, Main Street Vegan Academy, MainStreetVegan.com
September 2026

Photo from Canva

Originally printed in the Main Street Vegan blog, MainStreetVegan.com.

It started off as a regular Tuesday. I headed out to take my friend, Mary, to the grocery store. Mary is in her 70s—very sweet, caring, and a good listener. Over time, we’ve come to love and inspire each other. I love her quiet nature and her love of books, and she enjoys hearing about my activism for the animals and social justice in general. I’m excited to see her changing, switching from cow’s milk to plant milk to soy yogurt, and growing in her awareness about her daily choices.

On the drive there, I told her all about my latest adventures volunteering with opossums and other small wild creatures. We went shopping as usual, thankfully picking out many fruits and vegetables, seeing our regular cashier, and enjoying the walk in the store. But as we were leaving the grocery store, a woman suddenly walked right in front of me and startled me, saying, “Would you like a free sandwich from Chick-fil-A?”

Immediately, I felt a wave of repulsion. I said, “No thank you, I’m vegan.”

The woman said, “OK,” and right away I heard someone else chime in, “I’ll take it, we love Chick-fil-A!” I looked over at the lady who said that—hopefully not with a mean look, though my internal thoughts were things I won’t put down here. I walked away miffed and frustrated.

As I got in the car to take Mary home, my mind was racing with unfiltered thoughts about what I could have said instead:

“No thank you, I don’t eat animals.”

“No thank you, I don’t eat my friends.”

“No thank you, here’s a Plant Based Treaty card, please take a look at it.”

“No thank you, do you know what happens to male chicks in the poultry industry?”

And on and on and on it went. I sat there, ruminating over what I could have done differently, and started to get angry at myself for not responding “correctly.” Even now, as I’m sitting out in the sunshine away from the situation, I feel frustrated.

Still, I don’t even know what the right answer would have been. But it’s the same sort of ruminating that has taken away my peace in the past, the kind that cost me years of my life in an attempt to figure out what was wrong with me. What have I done wrong today? What did I do wrong yesterday? What if I wasn’t such a failure?

Thankfully, after years of working on myself, I was able to catch it. Sometimes that process is faster than others, and that’s OK, as long as I have that self-awareness to stop. To stop with the “what ifs.” To stop with the self-judgment. And to bring in compassion for the human animal who was leaving the store with her friend and was caught off guard by a question that jolted her...compassion for the human animal who had spent Friday and Saturday volunteering her time for wildlife.

That bit of self-compassion made it possible for me to say, “What if it’s okay? What if everything I did was okay?” And what peace that would bring me, if I did indeed say the right thing in that moment after all?

I share this story with you to let go of the what ifs and to embrace all is well. We will always have opportunities to make different choices. Be kind to yourself when you feel you’ve fallen short of perfect. Moments happen quickly and we do the best we can in that speck of time. I did the best I could in the Chick-fil-A moment. Thankfully, I did not respond with hostility. Thankfully, I did not give a lecture to anybody. Thankfully, I maintained composure, and I responded with the one word that said it all, “vegan.” Because I’m vegan, I don’t eat chickens or other animals. Because I’m vegan, I am aware of the suffering of others, and it matters to me. Because I’m vegan, I refuse this coupon but my wish for you is peace and hope and growth on your journey, just as I want for mine. I did indeed do the best I could, and I’m grateful for a heart big enough to allow me to move forward with love and compassion for myself and everyone reading this.

By Mariquita Solis, trained and certified as a vegan lifestyle coach and educator by Main Street Vegan Academy, www.MainStreetVegan.com

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Mariquita Solis is a Human Dynamics and Leadership Strategist and Co-Founder of the Tilson Solis Group, where she helps individuals, leaders, and organizations navigate the subtle patterns shaping culture, decisions, and meaningful change. As an Uncaged Heart Coach, she works with men to break through restrictive societal conditioning and step into their full emotional range, self-leadership, and relational integrity. She is also a Main Street Vegan graduate.

A dedicated community advocate, Mariquita serves as the Atlanta Campaigner for the Plant Based Treaty, a Climate Healer, and a Lay Leader at Unity North Atlanta. She also actively volunteers with the Chattahoochee Nature Center and Lucky’s Place Wildlife Rehab.

Combining behavioral insight, practical frameworks, and candid dialogue, Mariquita empowers clients to bridge divides, strengthen communication, and move from insight into intentional, sustainable action across both personal and professional spheres. Find her on Facebook.

Photo credit: Mariquita Solis

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Posted on All-Creatures: September 30, 2026
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