Insanity

A 3-part series aired this week on PBS called, "This Emotional Life." I watched the third part last night, "Rethinking Happiness."  The show focused on what makes people happy, the importance of our social connections, the power of forgiveness, and many other areas.  I highly recommend the series!

At one point, a question was posed:

"Does the way you deal with [your problem] help you?"
"If so, keep doing it." 
"If not, change it."

Take anger for instance.  When someone cuts you off on the road, it is YOUR blood pressure and heart rate that spike. The burst of adrenaline serves to get us out of the way of danger, but if we constantly experience a rise in our blood pressure and heart rate at every jerk on the road that we see, is this helping you or hurting you?

This reminds me of the definition of INSANITY...  Doing the same thing again and again, expecting a different result! 

So to take the above example, getting angry again and again and every jerk on the road in hopes that we can show them that we are by far the superior driver is "insane."  We're only hurting ourselves.

Think of a "problem" area in your life where you tend to be "insane."  What do you keep doing again and again in hopes that something will finally change in the way you want it to?  Is this helping you?  Be totally honest with yourself in answering this.  Defenses aside. 

If the way you are dealing with your problem is NOT helping you, are you WILLING to try something new?  Again, be honest with yourself here.

If you do have some willingness, however small, why not be open do doing something differently today? When your problem confronts you, be determined to stop and take a breath, and remember your willingness to change.  Be open to the possibilities.  Maybe something unexpected will happen!