Wonderful Wednesday- Living Through Life’s Little Insanities

insanity (ɪnˈsanəti)
noun
the state of being seriously mentally ill; madness.
extreme foolishness or irrationality.
plural noun: insanities
*Miriam Webster Dictionary

insanity

doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result
*Albert Einstien 

Is it then safe to say that if not all, most of us suffer from bouts of insanity? I know I have suffered insanity, both in the definitive sense and Einstien’s term. I’ve had my bouts of irrational and foolish thoughts and actions. I’ve had bouts of repeatedly doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, then I came to my senses after realising it was getting me NOWHERE fast and those insane actions were consuming my beautiful life.

If you can identify with any of this then whether you choose to admit it or not……… “We’re all (a little) mad here.” (Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland)

This madness, like many other traits, is built inside us, we’re easily adaptable and often adapting the wrong habits. It doesn’t matter how much change you try to bring to your lives, there’s always that tiny doorway that allows you to comfortably slip back into an old habit. You could have a thousand things go right for you, one bad thing happens and the first question that pops into your head is: “Why has this happened to me?” or “How am I suppose to get through this?” Instead of: “How can I move past this challenge?” or “What am I suppose to learn from all this?”

The former is insanity. You may have changed your attitude. You were a positive thinker when everything was going right. Then someone tosses a few nails in your way, you get a flat tire and your whole world falls apart. Or, some bigger change occurs in your life, your company is downsizing and you’re on the redundancy list. I bet that would really get your world turned upside down.

Been there, done that and yeah I flipped through that doorway like Christmas was on the other side but I quickly realised my irrational, foolish thinking and flipped right back to the other side and asked myself: “What’s my next step?”  Another question I asked myself was: “What can I take from this?” Then I went out, got a pedicure and bought a double scoop of coffee amaretto ice cream on a waffle cone. This wasn’t comfort eating, it was rewarding eating. I rewarded myself for reversing that paradigm of thinking when things fall apart I have to as well.

“When things fall apart, you don’t have too. Move on and eat some ice cream”            ~ Etta D. Richards

The negative questions are always easy. Confidence is easily broken. But it’s up to you to break the cycle and maintain the positive changes you’ve made in your life, don’t let one bad experience pull you back into the cycle of insanity. You may ask: “What if many bad things happen?” Well, that’s another story, one that I’m saving for another blog because those so-called “bad things” are a chain reaction to the one so called bad that that happen before. When something goes wrong in their lives, people tend to do is to sit in anticipation of the other shoe to drop……..Chain Reaction! It’s ok to wear that Hatter Hat, just don’t get too comfortable in it.

~Happy Wednesday

©Etta D. Richards