For years, I thought chicory, a caffeine-free alternative to coffee, was disgusting.

I thought this because someone told me so.

Once I knew it was disgusting, I noticed when other people told me the same thing over the years. I thought, “Yes, I think it’s disgusting too.”

I avoided it like the plague.

A few months ago, I watched someone I admired make themselves a cup of chicory. So strong was my conditioning, I felt let down by them. How could they drink such a thing?

I asked them.

“Isn’t chicory disgusting?”

“I like it.”

This was all I needed to finally try it. I tried a sip of hers. Mmm, interesting. I made one for myself. Sip. Sip. Disgusting? No. Do I like it? Sip. Sip. Mmm, yum!

Our ideas about ‘how things are’ can be extremely powerful. They operate all the time, just below our awareness. We think it keeps us safe – dividing the world up into ‘good’ and ‘bad’, ‘lovely’ and ‘disgusting’. We think it helps us know ‘who we are’. We don’t know. Everything changes.

What might you be avoiding, because someone told you it was disgusting (or boring or insignificant or scary or poor quality)? What might you be missing out on?

Start again in 2012. See if you can experience the world in a fresh way, moment by moment.

I’m sipping a cup right now. Mmm. Delicious.

Postscript: I only realised chicory was made from the ground up roots of this beautiful flower when I was searching for a photo to accompany this piece.

Yay chicory!

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Photo via Creative Commons by aussiegal, with gratitude.