When Things Feel Broken
3 min read
Updated: Dec 24, 2020
I’ve been broken before.
Right now things feel broken. Life is full of broke-ness. Be it death, divorce, job loss, cancer. Be it disappointment, mistakes, failures and unmet expectations. Be it Covid-19. When we are in crisis and feel broken we have the opportunity to either stay face down on the ground, as Brene Brown puts it, or we can pick ourselves back up, dust ourselves off and ask what’s next.
It is all in the choices we make. Choice is powerful. When things feel broken, picking up the pieces of ourselves and putting them back together again is anything but easy. But on the other better side of broken, you are wiser, stronger, full of pride – an even better version yourself.
I had the pleasure of being interviewed on the ‘ Think Courageously ’ podcast this week. The host, Deb Cummins Stellato asked me for my definition of courage. I shared that fear holds us back from success, but courage gives us the strength when we need it most.
Courage is accepting that when things feel broken it is not the end but the beginning of your next. Courage is accepting a diagnosis of cancer. Courage is also accepting that cancer is not the end but the beginning. Courage is accepting a job loss as a blip on the pathway to your extraordinary career. Courage is when you know that life isn’t easy, you embrace the hard. Courage is knowing that when things feel broken you have the choice to create the next version of your life.
Candice Kumar writes in the book Kintsugi Wellness about the Japanese art of Kintsugi. She describes this remarkable art as repairing broken vessels by sealing the cracks with lacquer and carefully dusting them with gold powder. The Japanese believe the golden cracks make the pieces even more precious and valuable. After applying the gold that seals the cracks, the finished product is more beautiful than it was before.
She writes, “It is beautiful to think of this practice as a metaphor for your life, to see the broken, difficult, or painful parts of you as radiating light, gold and beauty. Kintsugi teaches that the broken pieces make you stronger and better than ever before. When you think you are broken, you can pick up the pieces, put them back together, and learn to embrace the cracks.
Many of us are struggling right now to recharge, keep up and reach our potential. Things may feel broken, difficult and painful, but I’m making the choice to put the pieces of this crazy time into order again. Putting myself back together again will make me stronger, tougher and more resilient. The process will make me whole again.
I'm embracing my cracks -- those love lines on my face that are appearing with greater frequency these day. And, I’m making the choice to become the next best version of me. I’m also giving myself a promotion: C.O.M. (Chief Of Me) As Candice writes, the rebuilds leave us even more precious, even more valuable. Here’s to embracing your cracks -- that’s where the gold lies.
A few of my favorite things this week Kintsugi Wellness: The Japanese Art of Nourishing Mind, Body, and Spirit: HERE Your Employees Want the Negative Feedback Your Hate to Give: HERE I Am Enough: HERE Email me for a complimentary 20-mins to uncover your highest potential. @ christina@christinalangdon.com
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