It's Life Changing!

We were sitting at our table in Colorado pondering the many choices on the menu when the young lady sitting next to us declared that we MUST try the Chicken Tinga Tacos. 

 "Are they good?" we asked. 

 "Life changing!" was her response.  

Life changing? Wow! That's a pretty high bar.  But her recommendation was intriguing enough to make us try the tacos! Now it's quite possible that the young lady who offered the suggestion was more than a little bit "altered", and this may have colored her enthusiasm but still, we heeded her advice.  Who can turn down life changing tacos? I'm not sure the tacos quite lived up to the bar of life-changing, but it did start an interesting line of thought.  If the Chicken Tinga Taco was not life-changing, what was? And what does life changing really mean?

There are a few major life events that are indisputably life-changing: getting married, having children, getting divorced,  moving, being diagnosed with a major illness, experiencing a change of job, or losing a family member or friend. There is no way to get through those events without experiencing major change. But is it possible that other smaller things can also change your life? 

I think so! We live most of our days in some form of a routine.  Many people are comforted by regular habits and they feel good knowing that there is some repetition to their days.  I am sure this is why many of us have the same morning routine, or eat the same breakfast, or go to the same restaurants, or even wear some version of the same thing each day.  It brings order to a chaotic world.  It limits decisions in an environment where the options are endless.  But sometimes these routines move beyond comforting. We can become unwitting slaves to the routine.  Our lives can become stunted. We realize we need to do something different even if we don't quite know what that is. This can be the moment to change something. One little change can definitely start to change your life.  Change can be a big event, but it can also be a series of small changes.

Traveling to new places can change your life.  You don't have to fly across the country to see new places.  Exploring your area with fresh eyes can do that.  Seeing images and scenery that you've never seen before expands your world.  Trying new foods expands your palate.  Going on new adventures takes you out of your comfort zone.  Talking to people you may not otherwise interact with broadens your outlook.  Reading a book can inspire new action. We don't always realize or believe that we need to change our lives, but the truth is we should always be looking for ways to do so.  Changing is growing, learning, improving, and becoming more knowledgeable of the world around us. We should not let the comfort of our daily lives and routines prevent us from opening new doors and exploring different viewpoints.  On a daily basis I may retain many of my personal routines but over the course of my life, I hope I find ways to keep changing. I want to continue to increase my knowledge, understanding, and experience of the world around me. 

So yes, in a way the Chicken Tinga Taco did change our lives.  Maybe not in the way we thought, but it did change us.  It caused us to try something new and expand our horizons, and take a chance on something unexpected. Anytime we choose to zig when we would ordinarily zag, we are changing our lives a little bit.  These little changes add up over time.  They make us more adventurous, open-minded, flexible, tolerant, patient, and understanding. We may not always have the ability or desire to make BIG changes, but there is great power in the small ones.  Let your life be changed one Chicken Tinga Taco at a time!

*As a footnote: If I had to pick one food item from this trip that really may have been life changing, I'd have to go with the beignets from "The Lost Cajun".  Warm, fresh, light as air, and dusted with powdered sugar that melted into every bite.  I've had them before, but never as good as these. They were worth every powdered sugar spot on my face and clothing.  From now on, I will seek out beignets wherever we go and compare them back to these delicious examples- that is indeed life-changing :-).