Insanity: Insanity, craziness or madness is a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns.
Someone said to me recently that insanity is repeating the same things over and over, expecting a different outcome.
I keep straying from my diet; I keep reintroducing foods which I know I’m intolerant of (or which have an ingredient I’m known intolerant of) because I’m optimistic that suddenly my body’s become tolerant of it and my diet will become, once more, enjoyable to live with.
Every time I’m bitch-slapped into submission again. Every single time. But I keep trying.
Does that make me insane? Is optimism – because that’s what I believe drives it – therefore a sign of insanity?
June 17th, 2010 19:08
In this particular example, trying different foods is not necessarily insane. Trying the same food over and over – yeah, probably. But one intolerance not having lessened/dissipated doesn’t necessarily mean that others won’t have. In my fairly unscientific mind, anyway.
At least, optimism in general isn’t insanity anyway.
June 17th, 2010 19:10
I keep *reintroducing* foods. The same things. Over and over. :)
June 17th, 2010 19:21
Yeah, I may be inclined to agree you’re insane, then ;)
I was allergic to pineapple for years; I grew out of that sometime last year as I discovered when I ate a fruit salad sitting in pineapple juice and didn’t go into anaphylactic shock – so it is possible – but you may need to wait longer than a few days/weeks between attempts to reintroduce!