It's funny how someone can say one thing to you and it will determine the choices you make for a very long time. When I was a senior in high school, we had an incredible salad bar in our cafeteria. It was the only thing I would eat out of the plethora of delicious choices offered :-/. Fresh vegetables were cut daily and I happily partook. The cafeteria also served a couple of different dressing choices with which I could smother my greens. My favorite was a kind of a red French dressing with a twist of garlic.

I hadn't had a lot of experience with garlic growing up and I really fell hard for this dressing. I know, it sounds silly but I just liked it. Fast food chain Wendy's had recently introduced a salad bar in all of its restaurants and this seemed to be the new craze. Like I said, I ate it every single day. My boyfriend finally said something to me one day while we were waiting in the lunch line. "Why don't you get a different dressing today?" "Because I like this kind," was my reply. He said, "Yes, I know but you smell after you eat it. You should know that garlic does bad things to your body." I looked at him bewildered and he went on, "Look, it just makes you smell bad. And it's not just your breath, it comes out of your skin and you just smell."

I was devastated. Someone I loved couldn't stand the way I smelled. I never ate that dressing again. As a matter of fact, because that boyfriend became my husband, I never ate garlic again. Well, not for many, many years anyway. I became so self-conscious after that incident that I constantly checked my breath and smelled my arms, checking for unpleasant odors. One off-handed comment altered, not only my choices of food but also, how I viewed myself. It wasn't until 20+ years later before I ate garlic again; I had avoided it like the plague; I was so concerned about offending someone.

This affected future restaurant choices, what and how I chose to cook in our home, and also caused me to steer clear of onions, unless they were thoroughly cooked, grilled, sautéed or boiled. It wasn't until those twenty some years later that I, on a friend's recommendation, tried a meal with real garlic. No one told me I smelled and I enjoyed it. Words and how we use them can have a strong affect on the receiver. It is very easy to carelessly and unknowingly say something harsh or influential and therefore alter future choices.

Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. He kept on playing. In 1969, Barbra Streisand starred in the movie, "Hello Dolly!" A very young Michael Crawford played supporting character, Cornelius Hackl. There are rumors that Barbara couldn't stand him and said he would never make it in the business. Michael Crawford went on to steal hearts and a Tony award on Broadway, creating the darkly seductive title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera.

I was told once that I would never be able to blog every day. The point is, question. Don't blindly follow every rule or statement. Question, always question, do research, and practice. Don't give up on a favorite or a dream. There is a good possibility that the other person is the one who is wrong. Not you.

@by rayannethorn