Variety is the spice of life!

I am sure everyone has heard the saying, “Variety is the spice of life.” It certainly did not originate with me. I cannot take credit for the originality of that thought, but I certainly can take credit for putting this Tip into practice.

When I was growing up, my father always encouraged me to try new things. He taught me to try new foods or to go places I had not been before. He told me that it would help me understand life better if I would “test the waters” a little bit. Of course, he never wanted me to do anything foolish or haphazardly, but he did encourage me to do new things to see whether I liked them or not.

I remember one time in particular that he picked out a new baseball glove for me. I was hesitant to try it because I thought it was too big for my hand. My father encouraged me to try it anyway saying that a bigger baseball glove would help me to catch balls better and that my hand would grow into it. Sure enough, he was right. If he had not reassured me, I would have been tempted to stick with the “tried and true” and not been open to something different.

Variety comes in all sorts of flavors and colors. Some of it has to do with the foods we eat, some in the clothes we wear, and some in the activities we choose. Some of us get so stuck in our routine that we are afraid to try new things.

Henry Ford, was a great auto maker but originally all of his cars came in one color - Basic Black. He was convinced that everyone would want their car to be black so he offered no other choice.

One year, some executives from the Ford Company went into Henry Ford’s office and told him that Chevrolet had decided that cars should come in a variety of different colors. They believed the public would like them. Mr. Ford asked his executives, “Did you know we are going to start offering colors too? We are going to offer Basic Black or Basic Black!” Then he said, “Now, everyone get back to work! This is just a fad that will pass and pretty soon everyone will be laughing at Chevrolet for making such a foolish move.” Henry Ford underestimated the American public. That year, Chevrolet outsold Ford and continued to do so for many years thereafter.

Can you imagine all the cars on the road today being one color, Basic Black? About 95% of the fun in buying a new car is getting the color you want, both inside and out. You see, variety really is the spice of life!

Let me encourage you to enjoy every aspect of life. Look around at creation. The creator did not simply create one kind of tree, one kind of fruit, one kind of vegetable, or one kind of anything. There is a wide assortment of everything from flowers to trees, to birds, to people, to everything else in existence! It is truly a well-rounded person who can enjoy variety.

There are some things we will find that we do not like and there are some brand new things that we will find that we do like. If we just stick with the few little things we know and like and never expand our horizons and experiences, we will never come to see the great value that is offered in the variety that could be in our lives.

This information is provided in congruence with Personality Insights USA.