We all have those days when we don't feel quite like ourselves, or when we act completely out of character. The days when, not even our closest associates or family members recognize us.

As a youngster, my mischievous nature often got the better part of me at times. My Granny Gheeta was often left, quite speechless from some of my childhood antics. Although Granny knew that I was somewhat of a "force ripe" child, I amazed her with my crazed interludes.

For instance, I was the perfect child until the Helpers attempted to wash my hair. They would be subjected to chasing me around the house several times, I would call down Jesus, his mother, Mary, and his father Joseph. If that was not dramatic enough, I would yell, "They are killing me! Help! Help! Lord Jesus Christ! They are doing me in!"

Granny, being the stocious, private person that she was, would beg them to leave me alone, and then ask, "Magli, what is wrong with you? Why are you taking the Lord's name in vain, and calling down the world?"

I often searched for the words to explain, however, I could not find a plausible explanation why. I just knew, when my hair was washed by others, it made me feel as if I was stiffling. So, for many years, it became a family joke that I was an angel, except when my hair was about to be washed. It wasn't until later in life, after being taken to several Doctors, my family found out that I was severely claustrophobic because one of my Nannies attempted to drown me as a child.

Eventhough, Granny was often displeased with my actions and the epitaphs I spewed, she never stopped having compassion for me and praying for my healing. Deep down, Granny clung to the notion that there had to be a deep rooted, underlying phenomenon that made me overreact the way I did. Although an explanation came several years later, it absolved me from some of the misbehavings and time-outs in my young life.

Granny Gheeta was a staunch believer that people act in strange and bizarre ways, because the spirit within them may have cognitive knowledge of a former life, or are responding to future events.

During my childhood, I never paid much attention to the way my bizarre, sometimes disruptive behavior spoke to me in a metaphysical way. However, as I became more mature, I learned to embrace and channel the erratic parts of my personality.

I remember one day when I was about two years old, one of Granny's Helpers showed up for work in a micro-mini dress, and out of nowhere, I turned to her and said, "Ms. Sylvia, why you wear your dress so short, be careful, man might rake you, you know...."

A few days later, Ms. Sylvia told Granny, "Where you get you grandaughter from? Yu know a few evelings ago I was gweyin ome an some boys start fe follow me...."

Granny looked at her with the eyes of wisdom and just nodded.

I really don't know what possesed me to say that to the Helper, perhaps it was God conveying his message through me, nevertheless, I had many days when I waivered between Angel and little Devil. But, as I grew older all my actions served a higher, spiritual purpose.

Granny would remark, most people would say you are "mad no chad" or "have a screw loose", but in Jamaica, some folks know when a person gets cross for no reason, it is usually the spirit of God at hand. Sometimes we are not able to decipher the events right away, but over time, we often have that aha! moment when everything clicks and makes sense.

My most recent crazed episode occurred while traveling. I was waiting for my plane, and I had a vision that a terrorist was sitting right behind me, and as I sat down on the plane, he yelled, "Ok, everyone, the plane is being hijacked!" And threw the bomb into my hand......and then there was a "BOOMB!"

I snapped out of my vision from the explosion, feeling shook up and terrified, because it felt real.

After a couple of minutes, they called out the flight number, and I instinctively knew, that the number was ill-fated. I sat praying for several minutes, and then another announcement was made. The airline had changed the flight number. It was as if the Universe heard my prayers, and conspired with humans to make the necessary changes. During the time preceding my flight, and after my vision, I suddenly began acting out of character, I became gravely ill with an extremely high temperature and began ranting and raving.

If the airline had not changed the flight, my health would have made it necessary for them to return to the gate. Once, I arrived to my destination, I tuned in to the news to see if any planes had collided that day, but thank Goodness it was an uneventful flight day. It wasn't until a few days later, a plane traveling my flight route, was forced to make an emergency landing because of a terrorist plot.

Granny Gheeta often explained such scenarios as, God in action. She would often tell me that sometimes, she got the craziest notions that made her overreact or meltdown in peculiar ways, and even when she never understood the circumstances, she never lost faith that there was always a viable reason why her responses were so dramatic. For instance, the day she placed me in punishment and my cousin got killed in a horrible accident. We were so close, that perhaps if I was not in time-out, our family would have lost two members that day......

Many people may judge us by our inexplicable, bizarre behavior patterns, and label them as they see fit. However, they are doing themselves and the world an injustice because there are "special" individuals among us who react in ridiculously, crazy manners because God is speaking through them. So, although we may gawk and ghasp in horror when we observe our fellow citizens ranting and raving for no earthly reason, believe me, in their Universe, once the pieces of the puzzles are put together, it all makes sense, eventually. 

GOD BLESS THE USA!

Tags: Granny Story: Acting Out of Character