Important (to me) Idea of the Day

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 05:37:46 GMT

Broken lines, broken strings, Broken threads, broken springs,
Broken idols, broken heads, People sleeping in broken beds.
Ain't no use jiving Ain't no use joking
Everything is broken.

from 'Everything is Broken' by Bob Dylan

Brokenness is everywhere. That's a fact. I should know, I fix things for a living. On top of that, I own a house and I am married with 3 kids. There's a lot of stuff in my life that can and does need fixing from time to time including physical objects as well as moods, emotions, and relationships. Hell, there's a lot of my stuff that's broken right this second. I look around and it feels like there's enough broken crap around that I could spend the rest of my life fixing it.

Here's the big idea though. It's ok that a bunch of stuff is broken, well the fixable stuff anyway. Broken things are blessings in disguise. To wit:

Have you ever let something that was broken get on the corner of your nerve and gnaw away until you're really irritated and discouraged and don't even know why? Let me turn it around: have you ever finally fixed something after that period and it turned out to be much easier than you ever thought it would be to fix, to the point where you're a little exasperated that you didn't just fix the damn thing when it first broke? Fixing stuff sets you free from the insidious nature of broken stuff in your life.
There was until recently a problem with my front door. The latch wouldn't pop out and catch the door for what seems now like forever. You could only keep the door closed by locking it. Irritated everybody in the house. I finally fixed it by replacing the mechanism and it makes me happy every time I close the door and the latch keeps the door closed. Fixed stuff (that you fixed, anyway) is more satisfying than stuff that never broke.
You do more to help overall by fixing stuff, because you help foster a culture of fixing stuff. In my case, I'm showing my kids how to fix simple problems by example. This is a skill I hope they will always have in life. Fixing small things can create big changes.

The more I roll this idea around in my head, the more meaning it starts to have for my life. Here are my philosophical outcomes of the ideas above....

Accept brokenness as an opportunity and maybe even a blessing
If something is broken and its irritating you, FIX IT or at least start working on fixing it.
Even small fixes can be greatly satisfying and so are a great start
The very process of fixing things will fix you in ways you didn't imagine

That's all I got for now. Getting late. Happy fixing!

spooky dark run

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:41:59 GMT

Went on a 9-mile ramble around my neighborhood yesterday morning. This was a new kind of craziness for me as I got up at 4, was out the door by 4:30 and back at 6:30 before anyone else in the house was awake. It was also the first time I've gone on a serious run in my neighborhood. The plan was to run down to Walnut Creek Park and do some trail running for the bulk of the run, then head back for about 10 miles. I even broke out my headlamp for the first time since it those trails were going to be so dark.

Here's the thing... running in an empty park (well, there were some moths) at 5 in the morning is friggin spooky! I did just under a mile, eventually getting to an empty swimming pool that must be closed for the winter. Something about the look of the pool contributed to the overall sense of being in a scary movie, so I booked out of the park and did the rest of my run on the road.

I still plan on doing that kind of run again, although hopefully not alone. It's looking like we're getting a family dog this weekend. I'm going to lobby for a running buddy.... a big one, preferably with big pointy teeth.

test

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:31:26 GMT

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mhawktx

Important (to me) Idea of the Day

spooky dark run

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