I’m Not Insane. You Are.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein

As I type this article I am watching my cat; she is perched in the window in the living room and just outside is a lizard. The lizard is on the outside of the window the cat is on the inside, I need to make that very clear. But the cat doesn't know that. Or maybe she does. But that lizard is feelin’ himself; he is not scared, he is not nervous, he is not even agitated. But Frankie Jane? Poor Frankie is she trying over and over and over to get a lizard that is nowhere near her. It is literally a thick window of glass and a window seal away, and unless my cat can learn how to unlock a window and raise it, well, she will never catch this dadgum lizard.

And yet she tries over and over and over. She tries meowing at it. She hits at it. She paws at it and it doesn't even move. I mean, it stares at her sometimes and it drives her a little bit crazy by moving around just enough to taunt her - but over and over and over and over she does the same thing.

Do you all think my cat is crazy? I think she might be the very definition.

The first time I ever heard this quote by Einstein was in a counseling session. That's pretty interesting wouldn’t you say? So many years ago a very dignified, very wise, very distinguished an educated man leaned up in his chair, rested his elbows on his knees, looked me directly in the eyes and said, “Melissa, the very definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over an yet expecting different results.” I remember looking at him and saying, “You should put that on a T-shirt… that's actually pretty good.” He said “I didn't come up with it ... Albert Einstein did.” To which I replied, “Dang. He had great quotes AND he created the telephone??”

Did I ever tell any of y'all I flunked history?

Truth is, I'm still flunking history today because I have yet to learn that lesson and you may be reading this article and you may be thinking, “Oh Melissa is so funny…oh I love Melissa's silly videos…oh, I get Melissa's emails and I enjoy reading the things that she has to say because she’s a hoot!” but what you don't realize is that I am as close to insane as a person could possibly be.

I am as close to insane as the cat that I am still watching work tirelessly in a window - in a futile attempt to achieve the impossible- that's how insane I am. So, if it is true that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over and expecting the same results then allow me a moment to tell you how and why I consider myself insane.

·        Sleeping in and not having a morning routine is not for everyone. Some people just don't work that way. Some people need their sleep. Like me!

·        Some people don't have to work hard for success - it will just come to them . If they are patient, if they pay their dues, and if they pray about it, God will move on their behalf and it will come to them. They don't necessarily have to beat down every door - they don't have to work themselves ragged - it will just come to them. Surely... it will happen.

·        Not everyone eats when they're emotional but I do. This is how I cope. This is who I am . This is how God made me. Maybe you don't eat when you are emotional, maybe you jog. Good for you! But this is what helps me, this is what I have always done and it is what I will always do.

·        I will take this pill and I will try this drink and I will sip this tea and I will make this protein shake and I will eat this piece of fruit and I will go vegan and then I will leave vegan and then I will do keto and I will try all of the things because eventually one of the things will work. One of the things will be......... the silver bullet and I know the silver bullet works I just have to find the freakin’ frackin’ silver bullet.

·        I have given it to God. I have prayed about it. I have begged and pleaded with God to help me. I have given it to God. I'm gonna stop striving on my own and I'm going to give it completely to Him. This is his problem now; my weight and my health are His problem now. They are not my problem - they are His problem, after all, He created me this way and if He wanted me to change He would help me so I will keep going to Him, that's what I'll do. That's what I've always done and it's what I'm going to continue to do.

I find that my insanity shows up in the things that I eat, and in the things that I drink, and in the ways that I relax, and in the things that bring me emotional comfort, and in the ways that I have fun. I do not change these things and yet I expect changes from these things.

And because of this ... I am the very picture of insanity.

What I was – I can no longer be. Because what I want – I can never have, if I do not stop doing the same things over and over and expecting different results. I have written todays article in regards to my weight. But maybe you are reading it in regards to your marriage ... your career ... the way you parent ... the way you make friends…or the way you lose them.

We cannot expect anything in our life to change for the better if we keep doing the same thing over and over and over and expecting that we will get a different result.

Stop the insanity!

I love you.

Please, please, please,know that you are not alone.

Melissa