Never Liked Spicy Food — Until a Fortune Teller Explained Why… See More
Some people are born craving hot sauce.
Others can barely handle black pepper.
For most of her life, 67-year-old Diane was firmly in the second camp.
“No jalapeños. No hot wings. No Tabasco. Nothing red, nothing smoky, and certainly nothing that made my nose run,” she used to say with a smile.
Even mild salsa made her break into a sweat.
But one afternoon — during a trip she never meant to take — Diane sat across from a woman with silver bracelets and a velvet scarf…
And what the fortune teller said next changed the way she looked at food, family, and even fear itself.
A Trip That Wasn’t on the Map
It happened in Sedona, Arizona.
Diane and her husband, Roger, were on a retirement road trip. They were supposed to stop for lunch… but a detour took them into the winding hills near a little crystal shop with a wooden sign that read:
“Tarot Readings — One Question Only.”
Roger rolled his eyes.
But Diane, for reasons she still can’t explain, felt pulled inside.
“It wasn’t the kind of thing I usually do,” she said. “But something about that little bell on the door, or maybe the smell of incense, just made me sit down.”
The reader — a woman named Mina — asked one simple question:
“What’s something you’ve always avoided — and never knew why?”
“Spicy Food. Always Hated It.”
Diane laughed as she said it.
It seemed so trivial.
But Mina’s eyes didn’t flinch.
She reached for a card deck, shuffled slowly, and placed one card down.
It showed a woman holding a flame — but looking away from it.
Mina paused, then said something Diane still remembers word for word:
“Sometimes we reject what we fear will overwhelm us — not because it’s bad, but because it’s powerful.”
“You’re Not Sensitive — You’re Suppressing Something.”
At first, Diane thought it was nonsense.
She had told herself for decades she just didn’t like spicy food.
End of story.
But something about Mina’s words stuck with her.
“You were taught to keep the fire inside quiet,” she said.
“But your body never lost its hunger for it.”
Diane went home that day thinking less about chili peppers…
And more about childhood dinners, where emotions were quietly packed away like leftovers.
The First Time She Said Yes to Heat
Weeks later, back in Missouri, Diane found herself at a Mexican restaurant with old friends.
Without thinking, she dipped a chip in the hot salsa — the real one, not the mild.
Just one bite.
She expected the usual: watering eyes, cough, regret.
But instead… she smiled.
It burned, sure. But in a good way.
Like something had finally been shaken loose.
She tried another bite.
And another.
Something inside her was waking up.
Rediscovering a “Forbidden” Flavor
Over the next few months, Diane began experimenting in the kitchen.
She added cayenne to her eggs.
Crushed red pepper to her pasta.
Even tried Thai curry — the medium version.
The funny thing? She didn’t just feel braver with food.
She started speaking up more.
Saying “no” when she didn’t want to do something.
Wearing brighter colors.
Dancing more. Laughing louder.
Roger noticed first.
“You’re a little spicier these days,” he teased.
And she was.
There’s a Reason We Avoid Certain Tastes
Experts say our taste preferences aren’t just about the tongue — they’re about the brain.
Spicy food stimulates the same pain receptors that signal danger.
So if your nervous system is used to being on edge — from stress, trauma, or emotional suppression — your body may reject heat as a survival tactic.
In other words:
You’re not picky. You’re protecting yourself.
But once the brain starts to feel safe again?
The appetite for “heat” — in all its forms — often returns.
What We Avoid Says More Than We Think
Maybe it’s not just about hot sauce.
Maybe there’s something you’ve avoided for years:
- That one cousin you stopped calling
- The song that always made you cry
- The clothes you used to wear when you felt bold
- A city, a book, a flavor, a feeling…
Sometimes we label it “not for me.”
But sometimes, it’s just fear in disguise.
“You’re Never Too Old to Try Something Spicy.”
That’s what Diane says now, smiling over her plate of Nashville hot chicken.
She didn’t change overnight.
But one bite, one card, one strange little detour was all it took to unlock something she hadn’t tasted in years:
Herself.
She still doesn’t know if she believes in fortune telling.
But she does believe in signs.
And she’s learned to listen to the quiet voice that says:
“Go ahead. Try it. You might surprise yourself.”