Variety is the spice of life

Did you know that the phrase ‘variety is the spice of life’ comes from William Cowper’s 1785 poem The Task: “Variety is the very spice of life, that gives it all its flavour”?  But do you agree with this or do you prefer to stick to the same things every day?  I think there are certain things that we are comfortable with and don’t want to change whereas at other times, we could mix things up and inject a little variety into things.

If we keep doing the same thing every day, every week or every  month, we get used to it and become bored.  To keep our happiness levels up, we need to do things differently and add a little variety into our lives.  But this takes effort.  We all have comfortable routines that we can do without thinking but sometimes we need to make an extra effort and overcome autopilot to do something different.

Adding variety to your walks

Let’s consider something simple like going for a walk.  Should we walk in the same place every day or should we have a range of walking routes?  I try to have a variety of walking routes for my 200 rambles challenge but this isn’t always possible so I definitely have a few favourite spots such as Newcastle Promenade, Lurgan Park or North Down Coastal Way. 

Recently I was walking around Hillsborough Lake with some friends as we do every few weeks.  We usually walk in a clockwise direction but this time we decided to add in a little bit of variety and walk in an anti-clockwise direction.  So how did it go?  Firstly, we met the “Hillsborough Three” who were enjoying their coffee and watching the swans (pictured above).  Then we spotted different views of the lake, trees and sculptures as we walked.  We walked further than usual as we made a detour up a steep hill.  Finally we visited a different coffee shop for our post coffee scone because it was a short distance off our new route.  All in all, it was a completely different walk to our previous walks but it all started with deciding to walk in an anti-clockwise direction. 

How else can we spice up our lives with some variety?  Perhaps you could visit different restaurants and select different dishes off the menu.  Eat a different type of apple – make the switch from a golden delicious to a Pink Lady perhaps.  Alternatively you could try a different genre of book – I have recently started to read Irish fiction instead of my usual cosy mysteries.  Maybe you could try a new hobby, listen to different music or watch a completely different type of TV programme. 

Sticking with the old faithfuls

But sometimes variety is not the spice of life and we prefer to stick to things which we really like and are comfortable with.  I regularly visit Soak Seaweed Baths in Newcastle and listen to Abba while I relax in the bath – I have been known to sing along too!  On my last visit, I decided to add in some variety and listen to Elton John as I had attended his amazing concert in the Odyssey Arena the night before.  But while I had really enjoyed the concert, I found that Elton’s music was not my thing while relaxing in the bath so I quickly requested a change back to Abba, my old faithful choice. 

The bottom line is that it is sometimes good to inject some variety into our lives (eg try a flat white instead of a latte) but at other times, it is best to stick to the old comfortable things that we enjoy.

What do you think?  How could you inject more variety into your life?