"People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them."
- Epictetus
To me, the larger issue here is one of perceptions rather than preferences—because the way we perceive things often precedes the way we prefer things. Spice is a pretty benign example and that makes it a really useful jumping off point. Essentially, in this instance, your perception of spice influenced your preferences for spice. But that happens with all of our attitudes, and some of those attitudes are entirely consequential—they determine who we are. And they concern things that can affect ourselves, other people, and the world we live in.
There’s a Malcolm Gladwell quote I often think about, in which he says, “I feel I change my mind all the time. And I sort of feel that’s your responsibility as a person, as a human being—to constantly be updating your positions on as many things as possible. And if you don’t contradict yourself on a regular basis, then you’re not thinking.” But I like it with a caveat; I don’t think contradiction should be the goal, but “progressive realization” and refinement. And that is, the more we examine our thoughts, our ideas, our attitudes, the more we’re able to tweak and adjust them without causing some sort of sea change in how we view the world or interact with it. Small changes in order to incorporate new information rather than pendulum shifts, where the big parts repeatedly hold up to scrutiny and the little parts are less consequential—they add nuance and meaning. Because if everybody were constantly veering from one extreme to another in matters of consequence, the world would be even more disordered than it is today. I think of it using the ship steering analogy: an experienced sailor is one who makes minor adjustments to drastic changes in his or her environment in order to stay on course, rather than veering wildly from one direction to another and likely capsizing the boat in the process. But that refinement process can happen once you’ve really gotten to and engaged with the root of an idea.
Nice lesson. I'm not a big fan of spicy food. I feel like it takes away from the actual flavor of the food because all I taste is the spiciness. Maybe there is another thing I can change instead. Thank you Lana <3
That is exactly why I don’t like spice either. In my opinion, it ruins the whole experience I get from eating the food, especially if it’s a dish I enjoy eating, such as Indian and Thai dishes, which are originally enjoyed spicy. I can only tolerate a wee bit of sting, like Lana says. But that’s definitely it. The spiciest my own dishes get is when I accidently add a little too much of black pepper, that’s it.
I swear your newsletters come at the perfect time. I broke up with my boyfriend two days ago. That is a huge change that I've noticed some resistance towards over the past couple months while I was deciding and now that it's finally done. The resistance is still there even though I know it's for the best. I can only attribute this to a fear of change especially because this is a big change. It's this aversion to discomfort which on some level you experienced with spicey food. Its a little uncomfortable at first until you face it to see what the outcome will be. Does this make sense?
As a child I never liked Olives an I still don’t, but since the summer at my aunts house, which loves Olives, I regularly take chances to try some just to make sure I still don’t like them. ^^
This is a developmental process. We cannot remain static, life is a dynamic. Movement is life. Changes in our tastes, our preferences can occur under the influence of all sorts of circumstances. We change, which means we live!
You taste changes as you age. It becomes less responsive so does smell. This may change your overall response to other flavors also. My own wife who hated spice now adds spice to everything. Just a dash also which brings out other flavors. I found asparagus disgusting as a child and now find much delight in it. But Beets! Oh no way! Never! LoL
I actually hate spicy food as well, but recently I ordered seafood pasta which was a bit spicy and guess what - I LOVED it!! It hasn't made me like spicy food (yet), but it has shown me that sometimes it's worth to get out of your comfort zone and experiment with things that might be frightening you at first.
Careful it becomes an addiction! Chili flakes lead to Tabasco sauce - Tabasco sauce leads to Cayenne pepper - Cayenne pepper leads to Habaneros - Habaneros lead to Carolina Reapers -Carolina Reapers lead to the dark side of the force. Chillis are great!😋
Hi Lana. I wouldn't eat spicy, until I went to India, and no matter how much I complained I got: "if it's not spicy it's not Indian" and "Krishna likes it spicy" - I got FORCED to eat very spicy or starve, Now I love spicy! - Changing habits is not easy (specially bad ones) - Still I'm up to it, We can't change or nature though, but refine it and give up bad habits, excess, bad thoghts... You're an inspiration for thousands... I hope all your wishes come true and you're always under God's protection. Love peace light!
This newsletter made me question the things I did not like for reasons I could not find. I don't know if it is sometimes fear or our brains just telling us one day that we don't like something or probably an irrelevant reason which we forget in the end. I have realised that sometimes we should change and try out new things because sometimes our brains just get stuck with that idea we don't like something. I have a Chromebook which has different positions of letters and keys than a regular PC or Mac and I am scared to learn how to type fast on those keyboards and the software is completely different. When I started learning it was fun and better knowing something new and I finally got out of my comfort zone. Thank you for reminding me that change is not always bad. Have a good day Lana.
I hate onions & mayonnaise. This is is huge problem because they are on everything. Try to buy a sandwich at Pret A Manger. It’s a curse to have this palate. I liked the newsletter but it won’t help me.
At first I thought you meant spicy as in flavorful because in my culture that’s what it means. We differentiate between (spicy) hot and spicy (flavorful). Nevertheless, for us, the key is to maintain or enhance the flavors if you also want the food to be “hot”. Otherwise it feels like your tongue is just burning and you aren’t even enjoying the food 😅
"People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them."
- Epictetus
To me, the larger issue here is one of perceptions rather than preferences—because the way we perceive things often precedes the way we prefer things. Spice is a pretty benign example and that makes it a really useful jumping off point. Essentially, in this instance, your perception of spice influenced your preferences for spice. But that happens with all of our attitudes, and some of those attitudes are entirely consequential—they determine who we are. And they concern things that can affect ourselves, other people, and the world we live in.
There’s a Malcolm Gladwell quote I often think about, in which he says, “I feel I change my mind all the time. And I sort of feel that’s your responsibility as a person, as a human being—to constantly be updating your positions on as many things as possible. And if you don’t contradict yourself on a regular basis, then you’re not thinking.” But I like it with a caveat; I don’t think contradiction should be the goal, but “progressive realization” and refinement. And that is, the more we examine our thoughts, our ideas, our attitudes, the more we’re able to tweak and adjust them without causing some sort of sea change in how we view the world or interact with it. Small changes in order to incorporate new information rather than pendulum shifts, where the big parts repeatedly hold up to scrutiny and the little parts are less consequential—they add nuance and meaning. Because if everybody were constantly veering from one extreme to another in matters of consequence, the world would be even more disordered than it is today. I think of it using the ship steering analogy: an experienced sailor is one who makes minor adjustments to drastic changes in his or her environment in order to stay on course, rather than veering wildly from one direction to another and likely capsizing the boat in the process. But that refinement process can happen once you’ve really gotten to and engaged with the root of an idea.
Nice lesson. I'm not a big fan of spicy food. I feel like it takes away from the actual flavor of the food because all I taste is the spiciness. Maybe there is another thing I can change instead. Thank you Lana <3
This is the exact reason I still don't like my food to be too spicy! Just enough to get a bit of *sting*. <3
That is exactly why I don’t like spice either. In my opinion, it ruins the whole experience I get from eating the food, especially if it’s a dish I enjoy eating, such as Indian and Thai dishes, which are originally enjoyed spicy. I can only tolerate a wee bit of sting, like Lana says. But that’s definitely it. The spiciest my own dishes get is when I accidently add a little too much of black pepper, that’s it.
I swear your newsletters come at the perfect time. I broke up with my boyfriend two days ago. That is a huge change that I've noticed some resistance towards over the past couple months while I was deciding and now that it's finally done. The resistance is still there even though I know it's for the best. I can only attribute this to a fear of change especially because this is a big change. It's this aversion to discomfort which on some level you experienced with spicey food. Its a little uncomfortable at first until you face it to see what the outcome will be. Does this make sense?
As a child I never liked Olives an I still don’t, but since the summer at my aunts house, which loves Olives, I regularly take chances to try some just to make sure I still don’t like them. ^^
🤣 same
This is a developmental process. We cannot remain static, life is a dynamic. Movement is life. Changes in our tastes, our preferences can occur under the influence of all sorts of circumstances. We change, which means we live!
You taste changes as you age. It becomes less responsive so does smell. This may change your overall response to other flavors also. My own wife who hated spice now adds spice to everything. Just a dash also which brings out other flavors. I found asparagus disgusting as a child and now find much delight in it. But Beets! Oh no way! Never! LoL
love it lana 😄
I actually hate spicy food as well, but recently I ordered seafood pasta which was a bit spicy and guess what - I LOVED it!! It hasn't made me like spicy food (yet), but it has shown me that sometimes it's worth to get out of your comfort zone and experiment with things that might be frightening you at first.
Careful it becomes an addiction! Chili flakes lead to Tabasco sauce - Tabasco sauce leads to Cayenne pepper - Cayenne pepper leads to Habaneros - Habaneros lead to Carolina Reapers -Carolina Reapers lead to the dark side of the force. Chillis are great!😋
Be like the water.
Change is something that I take a while to adapt to. However, I try to embrace it when it comes. But I do like my structure and routine as well.
Hi Lana. I wouldn't eat spicy, until I went to India, and no matter how much I complained I got: "if it's not spicy it's not Indian" and "Krishna likes it spicy" - I got FORCED to eat very spicy or starve, Now I love spicy! - Changing habits is not easy (specially bad ones) - Still I'm up to it, We can't change or nature though, but refine it and give up bad habits, excess, bad thoghts... You're an inspiration for thousands... I hope all your wishes come true and you're always under God's protection. Love peace light!
This newsletter made me question the things I did not like for reasons I could not find. I don't know if it is sometimes fear or our brains just telling us one day that we don't like something or probably an irrelevant reason which we forget in the end. I have realised that sometimes we should change and try out new things because sometimes our brains just get stuck with that idea we don't like something. I have a Chromebook which has different positions of letters and keys than a regular PC or Mac and I am scared to learn how to type fast on those keyboards and the software is completely different. When I started learning it was fun and better knowing something new and I finally got out of my comfort zone. Thank you for reminding me that change is not always bad. Have a good day Lana.
Great 👌😊
I hate onions & mayonnaise. This is is huge problem because they are on everything. Try to buy a sandwich at Pret A Manger. It’s a curse to have this palate. I liked the newsletter but it won’t help me.
At first I thought you meant spicy as in flavorful because in my culture that’s what it means. We differentiate between (spicy) hot and spicy (flavorful). Nevertheless, for us, the key is to maintain or enhance the flavors if you also want the food to be “hot”. Otherwise it feels like your tongue is just burning and you aren’t even enjoying the food 😅