I feel… betrayed? wronged? tricked? Without warning my beer, the beer I selected from amongst all others to be “my beer” and have purchased and consumed for over a decade, the brewer of my beer changed its recipe. I did register the changes in packaging. “Strange,” I thought and, “I preferred the old look.” But the possibility of changing such a product never crossed my mind. Many products come out with new versions – maybe your favorite toothpaste, for example, issuing a mint version or WD-40 which has added a gel formulation to its product lineup – but I don’t expect the standard version of a product that has been around for… 92 years to change.
So my beer changed and I don’t like the new version as much. But here is the interesting part: It took six months and my mother’s questioning, “How do you like the new version of your beer?” for me to realize that a switch had been made – literally right under my nose! So strong was my assumption that the beer in my glass was the same beer that had always been in my glass, that my brain refused to acknowledge any difference. I could sort of tell I didn’t enjoy the flavor as much, but I attributed this to a change in my taste buds, or stress levels, or mental outlook. With the new piece of knowledge that the recipe was changed, I my situation suddenly clarified itself in a manner unlike anything I had expected.
This is only beer. Dare I say, “Not that big of a deal.” But it has got me wondering what other bits of life I am missing out on, simply because my brain refuses to acknowledge the inputs it is receiving. How could a clearer mind, empty of preconceptions, alter my relationships? My approach towards work? My spiritual peace?
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