So follow a couple simple recipes at first. You'll learn from experience about what fits your tastes, what goes into a dish, how heat interacts with food in different ways, what you prefer, which techniques work for YOU, what fit into your budget, preferences, time, diet, etc. is something you just learn from experience and it is unique to the individual.

Then after you mastered some recipes you;ll have some standby recipes (either written down or in your head) that are yours that you are comfortable with. But you'll probably keep experimenting too.

You will mess up. Probably a lot. You'll make some crappy food once in a while. You'll learn the hard way, but instead of feeling like a failure, look at what you learned from it. Try again.

I also suggest trying some stirfry first. It is extremely simple to stirfry, pretty healthy, and there is a real lot you can do with it - different flavors of sauce, different veggies, meats, etc., and you can buy the veggies frozen so there is very little prep.

I find that a lot of children don't get that kitchen experience while they are young so they grow up clueless in the kitchen about how to even start to prepare meals. I really can't understand this too much. I was in the kitchen since I was old enough to stand upright and hold a spoon helping out, standing on a chair to reach the counter or stove. As a result I'm extremely comfortable in the kitchen. I'm far from a "good cook," I'm average, but having that comfort I think is key.

Yeah, a bland meal or five isn't going to kill you. You learn as you go. Salt and pepper goes a long way, and experimenting is a big part of cooking. And there are lots of recipes a quick google away to use as a starting point.