Try just one new thing ... and see what happens

So it was Halloween this past week. I had a delightful time handing out candy and seeing all the costumes and kids and the families having so much fun. My neighborhood takes trick-or-treating Very. Seriously. In the best way possible. So we always have hordes and hordes of kids and teens.

I always try to end the night with no candy—or at least, with candy that I don't mind eating myself. So for me, no Whoppers, no gummy bears, no Starburst. I'd much rather have the Twizzlers, Snickers, and M&Ms.

This Halloween I ended up with some Sour Patch Kids. Far more than I wanted—since I wanted zero Sour Patch Kids. I've never liked them. At first I figured, well, I'll bring my leftover candy to my students. They're a big enough group that someone is gonna want the Kids.

But the candy bowl sat there, and the Kids were eyeing me, and I was eyeing them back. And the next day, a sunny Saturday afternoon, just warm enough for me to want to be outside, I decided to detail my car. And I wanted a treat too. I thought, what's the harm in trying a Sour Patch Kid? I don't like sour things as a rule. I've always shied away, thought they would be awful. But then I thought, I'm in a place where I'm trying new things. Why not let a new thing be a Sour Patch Kid? Low risk. Maybe some reward.

So I took the big plunge. I freed a bright blue, suprisingly tall, sugar-coated kid from its crinkly poly wrapper. I sniffed it. Then I slowly put it on my tongue. I was fully prepared to spit it out if the sour became much too sour.

But I ... liked it? I didn't spit it out anyway. The sour wasn't too overwhelming. I chewed it tentatively, then more vigorously. And before I knew it I wanted another one. Am I a Sour Patch Kid convert now? That's a Halloween fright!

But not really. As I chewed I mulled over this revelation: something I thought would be awful was ... fine. In fact I liked it. And in fact I was doing that while I was also going to do something I'd been putting off: detailing my car. What did both of these have in common? I had an experimental mindset. I'd thought, well, what if I just try? Perfectionism had been fuelling my procrastination in cleaning my car, while habit and assumption had kept me from the sour-sweet goodness of the Kids.

So I thought I'd share this with you as a fun reminder that sometimes if we try a little something outside our norm, some fun things will probably happen. In this instance, my mood improved. I got a buzz from conquering a (small) fear of sour things. I even got a seriously clean (not perfect! but good enough!) car out of it.

I'm ready for another Sour Patch Kid.

What's your Sour Patch Kid? I'd love to know. Comment below.

Image Credit: By Evan-Amos - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13317576