While speaking with someone today, I asked him what he wanted in life. He shrugged as he usually does and told me he didn’t know. I then inquired about his favorite restaurant and he replied that he and his family like to eat at a local Asian buffet where he can pick and choose from an assortment. I knew where I wanted to go with this line of conversation, being a writer who literally thinks in metaphor, and took it a step further. I wondered if he always chose the same items or if he ‘ordered off the menu,’ already knowing how he would respond. Being a play it safe kind of guy, he answered that he usually got the same things since they were familiar to him. Another step, a deeper inquiry.  What keeps him choosing the known instead of the unknown?  Fear mostly. What if he doesn’t like the choices he made?  What he had not learned in his 20-some years of life, is that he can always choose again. He need not stick with the same options. As with food, so with all other areas of his life. I encouraged him to experiment in both realms. It will be interesting to see what he does with that suggestion.

I invite you to do the same. When eating out, do you select the same menu items because you like them or because you are afraid to be disappointed if you choose something else? In your day to day, do you always take the same route to work, put your clothes on the same way, drink your morning beverage from the same cup, do your hygiene routine in the same order?  What would happen if you switched it up? While structure is important, sometimes stepping out of your comfort zone is the very thing that could spark your creativity and re-energize you. I have found that to be true for myself. Whether it is sitting in a different chair when I am in a workshop, walking a different way on my daily constitutional, writing on varied topics, making diverse musical choices and trying new foods, my life is enriched.

As one of my favorite songs by Dawes declares “I’m having a little bit of everything.”