Ice Cream Sundae

Although most of us would love to think of ourselves as spontaneous and free spirited, the reality is that much of what we do is routine and habit. It provides a sense of security and comfort, just as a child likes to have a specific toy to sleep with, we feel better having a certain type of coffee, or sticking to one or two flavours of ice cream.

The French love their ice cream shops and now that the sun is starting to be a more regular occurrence and the temperatures are reaching mid 20's (I think 75°f) these shops are beginning to open and tables and chairs are appearing on pavements.

They tend to have impressive menus, check out this local one for choices and they all look delicious, an amazing display of colours and flavours ranging from a pale and creamy looking vanilla to a bright blue one intriguingly called schtroumpfs (the French for Smurfs), all there to tempt me. Part of me wants to be a small child again and press my nose up against the glass of the display cabinets and try a little bit of every single one. Then when it comes to ordering something strange seems to happen and I go for a scoop of vanilla and a scoop of caramel. Every single time.

I do this because I know that I will enjoy those two flavours and will come away having had a 'nice' ice cream experience.

Then I think about all those other flavours I am missing out on trying, would I like those too? Would another flavour combination be even better? I need to step out of my ice cream comfort zone and try new flavours, have fun with them and see what works. Maybe a spéculoos (ginger biscuit) and violet combination would blow my mind - if not my taste buds...

How often in the bigger choices of life are we like this, going for the safer option as we know that it will be 'nice' experience. We need to step out of our comfort zones and try new things.
Even small things such as going to see a different genre of film, buying a book from a new author, trying a different class at the gym or even using a different route on the way home from work. These can all help make your day more interesting and varied and open you to new things.
How about a new holiday destination, or type of holiday? Taking up a new hobby? It doesn't have to be rock climbing or bungee jumping, just something that is new to you.

The world is an amazing place full of different colours and flavours, let's go out there and taste it!

P.S. Smurfs apparently taste like Haribo sweets.