Hope vs. Insanity

I have heard that a definition of Insanity is repeating the same behavior and expecting different results. If this is indeed an accurate definition of insanity, then my dog, Angus is insane.

Every morning, Hannah eats a small bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios (okay, fine, she eats a small bowl of generic brand Honey Nut Happy O's). She loves her cereal. When she is finished eating her cereal and drinking/pouring the milk down her face, she looks at me, all happiness and love and asks "Cheerios?" I am happy to comply because she's just so darned cute I can't stand it.

Throughout Hannah's breakfast, Angus keeps a vigilant eye on her progress lest she decide to deem him worthy of a tasty O (the drool marks to his left and right prove his devotion to his efforts). He is never rewarded by this fickle toddler. I have explained to him over and over again that he must get down. He must leave Hannah alone. He may not have cheerios. Yet, he never leaves his post. He expects a different result than he received yesterday morning, and the morning before that, and the mornings before that all the way back to Hannah's early cereal days.

So, by one definition of Insanity, Angus is proven insane. However, I prefer to think he is hopeful. Hopeful for Hannah to change her mind and share her beloved morning meal. Hopeful that she might leave her bowl unattended and at the perfect height for his low-to-the-ground head so he may gobble the bowl's contents in a messy, milky slurp.

This, I believe, is what we people do, too. Don't we all attempt the same things over and over again hoping against hope that this time, this time will be different? How many times are our efforts and dreams thwarted until we realize our approach must change? How many changes must we make to reach our ultimate goal?

And every morning, when I see my sweet, sweet boy silently willing Hannah to share her cereal, please, oh please, just for today, I am reminded that we are all a little insane. Perhaps, tomorrow morning, I will make Angus his own bowl of cereal and reward his hopefulness.