After I retired from my career as a UPS
driver, and continued a third career as a pastoral counselor, (I had also
previously retired from the Reserve) I found it necessary to substitute teach.
Well, I had hardly begun, and was in
my first week at Westwood Middle School, than my eyes began itching, and turned
a lovely shade of cherry red. I had contracted pink eye from some non-descript,
unidentified student. It goes without saying that I had to “stand down,” and
procure the required treatment for the malady; before resuming my duties at the
school.
Speaking of pink eye, there’s a local
commercial running in my television
market right now which promotes a clinical study for that malady. The monologue
goes something like,
“If you have contracted conjunctivitis
in the past four days, and have not yet visited a doctor, please call
863-____-____ immediately. Clinical trials are now being conducted at a
reputable health care establishment, and a new medication for the treatment of
pink eye is being tested. Medical treatment and the cost of prescriptions will
be provided to candidates of the study; completely without charge. Please call
the number on the screen immediately.”
And each time the commercial runs, I
cannot help but think,
“Hmmm, let me see. Clinical trials are
now being conducted for the treatment of pink eye. Let’s say I am a symptomatic
candidate for the illness. Just how would I know whether the doctor was giving
me a bonified new medication or a placebo?”
(and)
Pt. 2
“I mean, after all, if they are
conducting the clinical trials properly, they have to be administering both the
“real McCoy,” as well as a fake control medication.”
(and)
“If, hypothetically, I did receive a
placebo, I could be walking around with this nasty, oozing, cherry-red set of
eyeballs for a very long time; while they continued to play games with my
ocular health.”
(and)
“As long as I was a participant in the
clinical study, and continued to exhibit the symptoms of pink eye, the chances
of my procuring gainful work would be nigh on to nil.”
As a pastoral counselor of twenty-five
years, I often provide my clients an illustration.
“You walk into a room very much like
the one we are seated in today. As you step across the threshold, you notice a
young man standing near the door. And he seems so engaged with what he is doing
that he is totally oblivious of your presence. For you see, he is standing next
to a light switch, and flipping the ever-loving c_ _ _ outta of it. But the
light isn’t coming on. “Jim” continues to look up expectantly at the overhead
light, but nothing is happening.
He doesn’t check the fuse box. He
doesn’t check the bulb to see if it is burned out. He doesn’t unscrew the
switch plate to determine if any wires are burned. All he does is look up at
the light switch, as if he could will it to come on. And as you turn to go, the
young fellow continues to flip the light switch.”
Pt. 3
Ultimately, you return to the same
room a full half a century later. And as you walk into the room, you see a very
familiar old man, holding a cane, and wearing a full beard; bent over with the
cares of life. And the ole boy is flicking that same light switch; with the
very same result.
He’s not checking the fuse box. He’s
not checking to see if the bulb has burned out. He’s not unscrewing the switch
plate. He certainly has called an electrician. And you find yourself shaking
your head, walking out of the room, and pulling the door shut behind you.
Alcoholics Anonymous has developed a
simple definition for insanity.
“Doing the same thing, again and
again, and expecting different results.”
And very much like A.A.’s definition
of insanity, some anonymous individual once similarly philosophized,
“Sin (or negative behavior patterns)
will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to
stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”
Having literally counseled thousands
of men, women, boys and girls, over the course of decades, I can tell you that
I have run into some pretty chronic clients and cases. And whether we’re
talking about taking a placebo for pink eye, or maintaining a pattern of
chronic adultery, or practicing codependent behavior when it never, ever worked
for us, and only limited the adult dependents in our lives, or doing anything
else which consistently results in a pretty horrendous outcome, we are like the
man at the proverbial light switch.
It’s time to figure out why that light
ain’t coming on!
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By
William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from "(Mc)Donald's Daily Diary" Vol. 80, Copyright pending
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