Everyday, I learn so much from food. When the world seems crazy, food makes us believe that there is something worth fighting for. When we are hungry, food shows us how simple life can be so long we have something nice to eat. When people let us down, good food will always be there for us. Food, has a lot of things to teach us about life.

Here are 5 life lessons learned from food.

#1. Life is about taking a risk. People always like to stick with things they are familiar with – be it frequenting the same restaurant over and over again; or eating the same thing all the time. Most people are not very adventurous when it comes to food, so I can understand why they are doing this.

Life is short. Be brave. Step out of your comfort zone. Make mistakes. Do crazy things. Live.

#2. Bad things happen so that we learn to appreciate good things. Bad things happen all the time. We experience bad service, and occasionally we eat in a lousy restaurant that serves bad food. I believe everything happens for a reason, and not everything will be bad.

Maybe it is okay to have “bad food” once in a while so that we will learn to appreciate good food. The same goes for life. If not for the bad times, you wouldn’t be able to fully appreciate just how wonderful the good times are.

#3. No matter what you do, it is very important to manage expectations. You went to try a restaurant after reading about it on my blog, and it wasn’t as good as I’ve described. Was the food really bad? Or was the chef having a bad day? No, I think the definition of good differs from people to people. Taste is subjective, so you really need to learn how to manage your expectations and try out new things with an open mind.

Like what I always say, expectations are the root of all problems.

#4. If there’s something you’ve always wanted to do, DO IT (before it’s too late). There are some restaurants that you’ve always wanted to visit, but put off because you think that they will always be there. The now-defunct Twelve + One Patisserie and Brown Sugar Bistros were some of the places that closed down before I got the chance to visit them.

In life, timing is everything. We wait too much and believe there is always a tomorrow. But we forget there is only a limited number of tomorrows this life. If you’ve always wanted to do something, do it now.

#5. There are always two sides to every story, don’t be too quick to judge. The food blogger saga is the best example to show how quickly people jump to conclusions. In life, there are always two sides to every story. No matter what it is, make sure you understand the full picture before coming to a conclusion.

Life is good when you have good food and wine.