Insanity

I know I'm not insane because I can still distinguish the variety of colors in the crayons they let me use.

We all know that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. Most people I know, including me, do that very thing. I've done it with money, women, jobs and even my children!

With money, I knew I made more than I needed, so rather than have a plan, I would buy things I wanted. This is when I was single. When I got married to my current wife, I had a hard time telling her no, when she asked for something, even though I knew it would put us in a bind. Most men want to please their wives, but going broke doing it is not a good thing. She didn't know our financial situation, so she couldn't be blamed for that.

I don't think I did that with anything else, because I am a person who enjoys different things. Doing the same old thing everyday would certainly push me over the edge. Some people are creatures of habit and love doing the same thing every day. They bring the same thing for lunch everyday, or buy the same lunch from the same place everyday as well.

These folks are not insane, because they expect the same outcome every day. In fact, variation would drive them nuts. So who are the people who do the same things, expecting a different outcome? A lot of married people do. They want something different from their spouse, but don't communicate what that is. Expecting a different outcome is just not going to happen. Therefore, the marriage becomes crazy.

People who gamble a lot are insane. Firstly, hard core gamblers are superstitious, so anything out of the ordinary will cause them to go a little sideways. They want to play their "system" until they hit it big! There's only one problem with that. The house always wins. The gambler may win just enough to keep coming back, hoping his luck will change today. That's insanity.

Rooting for certain sports teams that never seem to win could be considered a sort of insanity. I fall into that category. I always root for the Miami Dolphins, thinking they'll make the playoffs, but they seldom do. They're 2-0 this season, so of course I'm going to think they are playoff bound.

Playing the lotto is definitely insane. Even though everyone knows that a person has a better chance of getting hit by lightning TWICE than winning the lottery, they still play it. To me, that's nuts.

See you tomorrow.

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