Last fall when my cousin came into town, we went to a little French place. We ate goose liver pate, cheeses, bread, cornichons and many other typical Parisian foods. It was all good. Then things went on a strange tangent for my liking.
She is a big fan of escargot and I've never really been brave enough to try it. (I've always said it's like a slug in a condo.) It's not that she gets out often enough to a restaurant that has it, so I figured that day was the day to take the gastric leap and join her! Sometimes you can't over think daring or you'll talk yourself out of it. (Legal notice: I reserve the right to say that speed of action is not the best course when considering acts such as jumping out of an airplane, when you should, indeed, and with great generosity, give your wise inner voice much time to talk yourself out of it!)
Full disclosure, I had to work up some serious courage to be able to palate a snail. (You can see where this is going.) Even when it had been cooked in butter and herbs. You might think that is a recipe for sure success. (Pay careful attention to the use of "might.")
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| They looked harmless enough. In fact, you can barely see them under the other tasty stuff. |
1... 2... 3... down the hatch. And I have this to say after that outrageous experience - yuck, yuck, YUCK! I did not care for it. I do realize it was probably mostly a mental thing, but this is just one path I loathe to tread down again anytime soon.
I don't regret trying it though. Honestly. (Dramatics aside.) I want that to be clear. It did take some serious fortitude to get past the idea that I was going to eat any form of any animal in its entirety, seeing as I think about becoming a vegetarian at least once a week, but I'm still glad to be able to say that I gave it a fair shot. For every 25 things I try, I bet I like 24 of them. Those odds are pretty good to encourage me to keep making the effort to branch out and partake in the many wonderful and exotic things this world has to offer. (Minus bugs. No way will I dine on a creepy crawly. I will not eat anything they show on those extreme foods TV shows.)
Though we were too full for dessert, I think our waiter was flirting with us because he brought us a lone profiterole on the house. (At this place they normally come in a set of three.) Who can't make room for a cream puff filled with ice cream and covered in chocolate fudge sauce? (That was rhetorical.)
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| Oh sweet remedy. |
It cured what snailed me. Uh, I mean, what ailed me. All bitter memories of things that I believe are not meant to be consumed by humans (think Styrofoam peanuts or tree bark) was quickly replaced with the sweet memory of luscious, chocolate, creamy, pastry-covered induced amnesia. Ah, mind wipe!
So don't let a failure here and there get you down. You're unlikely to have a perfect track record when you start branching out of your comfort zone, no matter what you do. You may not finish a race, feel a total failure at a craft, regret a job change at first, or find out you don't even like learning a particular new skill you were "oh so sure" you would love. But I'll bet you if you keep it up and you keep putting yourself out there, or give yourself time to adjust when you do, you will happen upon something that you are either remarkably talented at or at least enjoy. You'll know when you find it. And I want to hear about it. Maybe I'll even feature you and your interesting story one day!
Keep in mind that it's good to fail sometimes. Then when you do succeed, you'll know how to appreciate it.
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