General Tso's Vegan Chicken...better than crack?

ALERT: I may or may not have discovered the best food on the planet! Over Thanksgiving break my brother introduced me to what I truly believe is magic in my mouth. My brother presented me with a small Tupperware container, that housed 1 piece of what I thought was General Tso's Chicken. Apparently he had been saving it for over a week in anticipation of my arrival. I decided to appease him and popped the snack sized bite in my mouth. BOOM. Despite the cold temperature of the Chinese food, I found it to be highly enjoyable! It was juicy and bursting with flavor. After my brother confirmed my liking, he revealed to me that it was from Whole Foods and it was vegan "chicken" (aka tofu). TIME OUT. I hated tofu. The only time I had tofu before was at a Japanese Steakhouse over 10 years ago...I knew in theory it was supposed to be good for me, so decided to give it a whirl when my cousin ordered it... my experience: boring, flavorless, and a sick-nasty rubbery texture, YUCK. I was utterly perplexed that what I had just so thoroughly enjoyed could be tofu! A few days later I got a whole half pound of it so see if I would enjoy a full meal of it. Welp, not only was it amazingly delicious, I was full afterward and not left with that utterly gross full feeling... ya know the kind after you eat legit General Tso's Chicken which is so greasy that it makes you feel the need to take a shower.

So, can you think of something you tried once a long time ago and didn't like? Maybe it left a bad taste in your mouth (literally or figuratively) and you decided you would never try it again. But what if your tastes/preferences have changed since then? What if that thing you tried was fundamentally still the same, but it was presented in a new and highly appealing manner?

The only other time this has happened to me was with church. I used to HATE church. Stand up. Sit down. Hear a dude get up and ramble for an hour. YAWNNNNN. Although I knew in theory it was good for me, I didn't care because I thought it was utterly boring and could never pay attention. After college, in-spite of having many worldly things (good job, good relationships, money) I felt incredibly empty inside and yearned for something more...so I decided to give church another chance. BOOM. Church (Frontline) was AMAZING. Fundamentally it was still the same (worship and learn about God/Jesus) but it was re-packaged using things I already had a liking for....i.e. pianos and guitars playing contemporary worship songs, a charismatic speaker presenting a sermon using B.L.U.F (bottom line up front format),telling personal stories I could relate to, PowerPoint slides to help follow along with the scriptures and emphasize the key take aways and how to apply them to my life!

So this holiday season, I challenge you to try something again that you've tried a long time ago and swore it off. Maybe it's church, maybe it's tofu, or maybe it's something different. But take the risk, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.