...baby steps...

I'm not a “trier.”

I never have been. I like to stick with what I know. There's a reason why people stick with what they know – it's because they know. They know it will work, they know they can do it, they know it will be good.

But when you are seeking to live an adventurous life, sticking with what you know has got to go!

We celebrated a birthday today with Andy's family at a hip pizza joint in the Delmar Loop. If you know me at all, you know that when my pizza comes to the table it will have just one topping – cheese. I love almost all pizza toppings, just not on my pizza. As it turns out I'm incredibly pizza picky, so I get plain cheese pizza...every time. But, being that I set a goal for myself to do “something new each day,” I knew my plain days would have to come to an end.

I chose my pizza slice carefully from the ones scattered around the table. It was thin crust (good), with sauce and cheese (good, good), and spicy sausage (mmm, okay), green peppers (yum, but not on pizza), cherry peppers (um, ok), basil (on pizza?!?), and fontina (have never had before.)

Sister-in-law in the background cheering me on!

And when I sunk my teeth into that and began to chew, it was like an explosion of flavor...like a fountain spraying forth all of the worst flavors imaginable! Who thought combining all those flavors was a good idea?!? It even had a weird aftertaste of fennel – fennel! I only got halfway through before handing it to Andy so I could gag into my water glass. It took a giant piece of cheese pizza smothered in dried red peppers to get that awful taste out of my, now maliciously maligned, tastebuds.

Taking the first step is never easy. In fact, it's usually the hardest step we take. So hard that we'll justify staying where we are by making up excuses, like, It's a pizza!! Who cares what's on it? It doesn't really matter. Oh, but it does matter. If we only stick with what we know, we'll never venture out past the fences of our own backyard. And if we don't do that, how can we know what's probable, what's possible, what we enjoy. Each baby step that forces us out of our self imposed comfort zone will propel us further and further on a life of adventure and self discovery.

I dare you to try a “new to you” food this week. See how it expands you. Then tell me all about it!