This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more information.
Rule #24. Tastes change. Don’t be afraid to give things a second chance.
Do you remember being a kid and sneaking a taste of a beer or some wine? I do, and I also remember just how gross it was. That changed, in time, and now that I’m almost 33, I love having a celebratory beer or a little wine with dinner.
Despite my initial displeasure with the experience of drinking beer, I somehow brought myself to try it again later in life, and I must have enjoyed it enough that I enthusiastically partake in this particular vice to this day. As this example illustrates, tastes change, and because of that, it’s worthwhile to give things a second chance.
My exploration of cooking has led me to revisit a number of foods that I had previously dismissed or disliked. I’ve never liked brussels sprouts, but then my wife roasted some and I gave them another try, only to find myself enjoying them. I didn’t care much for fish or any manner of sea beast when I was a child, but as an adult I would gladly eat my fill of sushi or seafood. And though, as a child, I pursed my lips and grimaced at the taste of my father’s beer, I now gladly sit at the local brewery sampling with glee whatever they have recently tapped. Tastes change, so it’s important to open ourselves not just to new stuff, but also to the old stuff that’s come round again.
This extends well beyond the foods we eat. It also applies to our experiences. As a youth in Boy Scouts I utterly detested winter camping, but I’ve come to see it much differently as an adult. I also hated cooking in cast iron, and now it’s one of my favorite ways to prepare a meal, to which any of my social media followers could attest. I used to be afraid of meeting new people and went out of my way to avoid conversations with strangers. Now I’ve realized that my anxiety prevented me from meeting new people and thus I missed out on the potential to make amazing new friends. Though I still feel that anxiety and fear when it comes to strangers, I go out of my way to embrace it and have the conversation anyway. I do things differently now. My attitude has changed, as has my perspective, and I’ve matured (though only a little), so experiences affect me in different ways than they once did.
You’re not the same person you were a decade ago. You’re a little older, a little wiser, and little more capable. So don’t be afraid to try something that you didn’t enjoy in the past. If you still don’t like it, then move on, no harm done. You may discover, however, that you enjoy the food, experience, or location much more than you would have anticipated. That’s because tastes, like everything else, change with time. So stay intrepid, try something new and try something old.
It just might surprise you!
“Rules for Intrepid Living” is an ongoing weekly article that gives potential guidelines for how we can all live a bit more of an intrepid life.