I am starting this blog an hour before 16 January ends so I hope it is in time – it’s earlier in some parts of the world and later in others! Anyway the prompt word is from John today and it is “Variety”

Variety is the Spice of Life. Boring people have no variety in their lives. They are not adventurous and do not seek out new experiences. Perhaps they feel secure in their safe cocoons eating the same food, seeing the same people, and never trying anything new. Many years ago a colleague of mine was going through a stressful time and mentioned that she’d love to go away for a relaxing weekend. So I offered her and her husband a free weekend at our holiday home just two hours away. She discussed this with him but he said, No thank you because it was too much effort to pack a bag and drive to a destination he would feel unfamiliar in. Then he would have to pack up after two days and drive home again. I was horrified. Did he not understand that the drive there would provide a variety of different scenes along the way. They would be able to stop, get out, explore, have a coffee at a quaint little farm stall, and then move on again. Then once at the destination, there would be the beach, different birds to watch, a lighthouse to climb, the list goes on. 

I find it amazing too that some folk won’t even add a bit of variety to their diet. The same old fare is oh-so boring. Why not add some spice, a vegetable you’ve never tried before a completely new food. We love sashimi and I have offered this treat to many people, some who immediately accept and others who say they would certainly never eat raw fish! When I ask if they have ever tried it the answer is always, No and I never will! Okay fine – your loss. For ages, I tried to get a close friend to try sashimi and finally after a year she gave in, and guess what – she loved it. 

Sometimes I think having a bit of variety in what you do, where you go, what you eat, who you see etc is healthy. You needn’t change your entire lifestyle but do try something new from time to time. You might find your depression lifting. You might find you’ve been missing out on something you thought you would hate. 

We live in a small fishing village and it is so easy to slip into a mundane routine but we make a point of doing a variety of activities. Recently we have put a couple of our rooms on Air B&B which means we meet a variety of guests both local and foreign and hosting them is proving to be great fun.