The Chair with A Broken Leg

The chair with a broken leg...

There's a chair with a broken leg in the corner of my room. It has been there for as long as I can remember. You may wonder why I'm still keeping it despite its faulty condition. You probably think it's strange or funny to hold on to something defective. Well, let me tell you why I chose not to throw this chair away years ago.

I kept it with me simply because I still find it useful. Maybe not for its intended purpose of sitting but because it can still hold stuffs in spite of the occasional loss of balance. Once the load exceeds the capacity limit of this chair, things will start to topple over.

I've to admit that sometimes, this chair really annoys me and tests my patience. The sharp edge of its broken leg has left several scratch marks on my feet whenever it collapses. Yet, I still pick the fallen things up and place them back on the chair again. All these years, it's never once crossed my mind to dump this chair for good.

You see, this story is not meant to bore you and I apologise if you turn away after reading the first few paragraphs. But what I'm trying to convey is that we, mortal beings are like a chair with a broken leg. Imperfect as we are, we still function as a whole being despite our flaws. And there will be times when we lose our balance in life. We fail to have control over certain things. We drown in fallen expectations of what we're supposed to do, achievements that we're meant to accomplish and goals that we're programmed to set.

At times, we get too harsh on ourselves and we push ourselves beyond our limit, only to realise we are no different from a working machine. When the obstacles get way too rough or challenging, we might succumb to these shortcomings and even break down just like how the broken chair would when the burden exceeds its limit.

So, how can we overcome this? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell us what to do, right? We're after all the master of our life. If your burden is too heavy, simply put it down. Or at least try to reduce the load you're carrying on your shoulders. Like I mentioned, we are beings, not machines. Alright, maybe that's not a good analogy because machines still need maintenance from time to time. But I believe you do get my point, right? =)

If you keep pushing yourself too hard, you'll only end up wearing yourself out physically and mentally before you even know it. I understand that some of you may be frustrated, discouraged even, when you're unable to meet the expectations you have of yourself. Some of us may even be scarred by our imperfections.

Let me tell you this. It is okay, my friend. It is okay to be imperfect. It is okay to be deemed broken once in a while. What's not okay is that you choose to give up on yourself simply because of your defect(s). Look within yourself and evaluate the 'damage' to see if it is repairable. After all, there's this saying that rings "You don't simply throw away something just because it is broken. You fix it."

I hope this quirky story may somehow inspire you or at least let it be a gentle reminder for you to forgive yourself and embrace your imperfections. Nothing broken deserves to be labelled as useless unless there's no better way to fix it any longer. If only you can see past your imperfections, you'll come to realise that you are actually (almost) perfect from inside out. What others think or say about your imperfections don't define you, but the way YOU see them do.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day! =)

Jassie Looi
16th October 2015
12.30pm