Acquired Tastes

I've been thinking a lot lately about acquired tastes.  A lot of things in life can be considered an acquired taste.  Foods, activities, drugs and alcohol... there a lot of things that aren't generally liked the first time they are tried but they grow on you after a few attempts.  My question is, what makes us so willing to acquire tastes for things that are bad for us, but so unwilling to acquire tastes for things that are beneficial to us?  Let me give you a few examples.....

There are a LOT of people who hate alcohol or coffee the first time they try them... or even the 2nd and 3rd time, but they KEEP trying them till they like them.  But at the same time, there are a LOT of people who won't drink water or milk because they don't like them.  Why are we so willing to work so hard to like alcohol and coffee but so unwilling to get used to milk and water?  Social acceptance?  Rebellion?  What is it?

Cigarettes.  Who actually likes the first cigarette they smoke?  I'm guessing very few people think, "Oh yeah this smoke is delicious!"  But they keep at it till they can't do without it.  Going for a run or doing any type of exercise is also something that once you start, you begin to enjoy after a while but less people are willing to doing those activities.  Why is that?  We have a huge obesity rate in this county because people would rather get used to being fat and unable to move around or shop at the stores they want to than get used to a little physical activity.  Why do we do that?

Maybe it's a motivation problem.  Maybe we are motivated to fit in so we do things we think are cool at the time.  Maybe it's a rebellion problem.  Human nature wants us to like the negative stuff and despise the good stuff.  I don't know what the answer is but it's an interesting thing to ponder.

Think about it.  What things in your life have you gotten used to that you didn't like the first time you tried?  What have you acquired a taste for?  Look at the healthy/good things compared to the unhealthy/bad things you've forced yourself to get used to.  Are there more negative ones?  I challenge you to think about this and pick a couple of good and healthy things to force yourself to acquire a taste for.  You would be surprised at what you can end up enjoying.