Krispy Kreme

William Glasser coined the expression, "Insanity is doing the same things over and over, expecting different results." Personally and professionally, I define insanity as having a so-called "un-soundness of mind, of thinking, feeling, viewing." It's because that we sometimes have an un-soundness that we hold on and maintain what some call "failure patterns." It's inside of these failure patters that we are doomed to suffer, largely because of the fact that we don't change the type of decisions that we make.

About a week or two ago, Deb forbade me from bringing Krispy Kreme doughnuts into the house. She said something to the effect of, "If you keep bringing those donuts into the house, your ass is going to get fat again." Tough love sucks sometimes. She was saing this because I had lost 240 lbs. a few years ago and I've started to repeat a failure pattern and have over the past 6 months gained about 20 lbs. Despite hating and painfully remembering that I hated having been 450 lbs., I'd been in regression.

Her pointing out my Krispy Kreme addiction got me to look at some of my other eating habits. I could see how that one behavior impacted a lot of other things for me.

All of this has brought up an obvious truth. It's not enough to break a failure pattern. We have to maintain our growth by consistently working on our personal psychology (thoughts and feelings) that we hold towards ourselves. Otherwise, after a period of progress we start traveling in circles again. That's no fun.

So how do we make the changes that we need to make, break our failure patters and lead healthier lives? The secret is that there is no magic bullet. It's more like a jigsaw puzzle. We have to learn to do many things with competence. Not only did I stop buying the Krispy Kreme doughnuts, but our family walks together to exercise (when weather permits). It also gets us way from the TV and a weird thing happens. We start talking with each other (which is a pretty good side-effect). I've also changed portion sizes and eat smaller meals more other kinda like a diabetic. When I go to the store, i park at the end of the parking lot, so that I force myself to walk. When I eat, I put my food on a smaller plate (never a big one). It's a visual que to the mind and it helps you to feel more satisfied. I eat slowly and chew my food as opposed to inhaling it.

All of these little things add up for me and I have the opportunity to break my failure pattern. In the end, I improve my self-esteem and how I feel physically, mentally and spiritually. Zazen is a heck of a lot easier when you are physically fit.

I know that you might be thinking, "wow what is this - the diet channel?" In truth it's my example for how we can move outside our "zone of insanity." I have a friend who keeps asking me how they can "meet the right person." I told them, "maybe you can start by sitting in meditation and then not picking up people who are drunk." They responded, I don't go out with people who are drunk." I replied, "by your description they pretty much look that way emotionally." They laughed and said, "true."

May All Beings Be Happy,

Jaye Morris, Curator
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