The black-skirted woman laughed. The two have been sitting in this shop for more than twenty years. The shop owner knows what they both like to the point of not even needing to order. One person has less onions, one person has more chili. "What's so bad about that?". The black-skirted woman said. "Eat familiar food for peace of mind". The yellow-skirted woman shook her head: "The problem is that I am familiar with eating, cutting my hair, buying familiar clothes, even the familiar house I want to live in forever". The sentence made both of us laugh.
Humans are born to explore the world, but the older you get, the narrower your map becomes. There is a tastier pho restaurant, but you don't go because "you're used to the old place". There is a new barbershop, but you're afraid that barbers won't understand your head. There is a more beautiful clothing store, but you still visit the old place because the saleswoman remembers the waistline that was lost 5 years ago.
People's lives are often shaped by the two words "familiar goods". The black-skirted woman suddenly counterattacked: "But thanks to familiar goods, I live well, at least I'm not deceived". The yellow-skirted woman nodded: "Familiar goods give a sense of security, but also take away quite a few surprises." Then she told a friend's story. For twenty years, he only cut hair at one salon. When the barber retired, he was sad as if he had lost a loved one. It took him three months of wandering around before he dared to step into another salon. And surprisingly, after cutting his hair, he discovered he looked a few years younger.
See?" The yellow-skirted woman smiled. "Sometimes we don't get old. It's just that we are stuck in habits." In fact, no one forces us to adventure every day. No one forbids us from returning to a restaurant that has been with us for half a lifetime. But if this year is exactly the same as last year and ten years later is also the same as today, then sometimes it's not that life is peaceful, but that curiosity in us is sleeping. The black-skirted woman looked at the bowl of vermicelli that was about to run out, contemplating: "Maybe we try another restaurant tomorrow?". The yellow-skirted woman almost choked. "Oh my god! I said half an hour, and finally she understood?." The black-skirted woman smiled: "No. I thought I'd try another restaurant and come back here to eat better". The two burst into laughter.
It turns out that the new is not always to replace the old. Sometimes it's just to remind us that the world is still vast and we still have the ability to be surprised. But if after a round of exploration, we return to a familiar shop, a familiar craftsman, or a familiar store, then it's no longer a habit. It's an option. And the choices after knowing more are always more precious than the habits that are repeated just because they are afraid to step across the street.
