We all know at least one person who insists he or she doesn’t like a handful of things: a certain kind of music, some brand of international cuisine, a movie or television show. Of course, we’re only human so none of us like everything all the time — that’s the beauty of variety, and the ability to choose — but I’m sure we’ve all known people who make that type of claim only to find out they’ve never actually listened to a song they claim to hate, eat some kind of food they claim to abhor or watch a movie they think sucks.

My issue doesn’t lie in someone disliking something — there are plenty of things I don’t like — heavy metal music (it gives me a headache), sushi (it just isn’t my scene) and “The Notebook” (soooo cheesy). These are all things I dislike. However, I’ve given all of them a chance.

Being open to trying new things does take us out of our comfort zone but how monotonous does it get when you do the same things over and over without adding anything new to the mix? You’ll never know whether you actually dislike something if you never even give it a chance. You’re not exactly being fair to yourself if you just work off of an assumption and say that you probably wouldn’t like something. What’s the harm in giving it a try?

When we step outside of our comfort zones and our day-to-day routine, we’re way more likely to find out things about ourselves that we wouldn’t have discovered any other way. If you spent your entire life thinking you don’t like something based off of an assumption or what someone else has told you, wouldn’t you be angry if you eventually found out you do like that thing and you’d been missing out on it for years?

You don’t have to cheat yourself that way. You just have to have an open mind and be willing to take some risks now and then. You never know what you might find once you start trying new things.