Some quotes are so overused as to render them, well, useless, but the quote that says that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is one that still holds some truth for me.
(An aside: I just learned today that it’s likely that Einstein did not, in fact, say that, but it’s been attributed to the author Rita Mae Brown in her book “Sudden Death.”)
My sabbath is on Mondays and one of my guidelines of Sabbath is to not. check. email. Or go on social media. And yet it doesn’t take much for me to find an excuse to do so and once I’ve checked it once, I figure, well, I might as well keep checking it the rest of the day. My sabbath is usually kaput after that.
I must pat myself on the back for yesterday, though. I stayed off email and social media and it was a restful day. I did some mindless things (watched “Breaking Bad,” did a crossword puzzle) but also a few productive things, too (made a list, which I always enjoy; did some research on podcasting; bought a new pillow). I really like that balance on my sabbath. Too much of one or the other and it just doesn’t feel restful.
At the end of the day, my son gave me the best way to wrap things up. I had gone to a book reading/signing at a local coffee shop and when I came home, I went up to scratch Ethan’s back, which is part of the tuck-in routine. As I walked in and sat down, I warned him that my hands were cold.
“That’s okay, dad,” he said. “My body is warm.”
Thus endeth a great Monday and a great Sabbath.