Variety is The Spice of Life
We all know spice is a vegetable material of many kinds, fragrant or aromatic and pungent to the taste, as pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, allspice, ginger, cloves, etc., which are used in cookery and to flavour sauces, pickles.
Spice adds flavour and taste to food. As such, food without spice is bland and usually tasteless.
What is true of food is true of life too. Variety, like spice, enriches or alters the quality of life in a small but significant degree. It gives zest, a mild flavouring and more importantly a relish, a hearty enjoyment of life.
A change in routine, a new approach, a new idea, a new venture or adventure, a vacation or an avocation, a new hobby or a new pet or a game, all add flavour to life. Else life will be dull and monotonous.
We all need healthy change in order to avoid becoming mechanical. Already most of our daily routines have made us automatons. We have to come out of the rigmarole, once in a while and feel alive and human. This is possible when we take a detour from the beaten track.
A word of caution however: Just as too much of spice can spoil the taste of food, so also too much variety can, in fact, hamper the quality of life.
It is said in Sanskrit that Ati Sarvatra Varjayet. This means that we should at all times give up excesses. Positively stated it means that moderation is the royal road to health and happiness.