Have you ever had a broken toilet that only worked if you jiggled the handle the right way? You start out telling yourself that you’ll get around to getting it fixed, but you only remember that it needs to be fixed at the worst possible times. Then before long, you don’t even notice that it’s broken any more. Every time you use it, you automatically jiggle the handle to make it work the right way, because now, that’s what you’re conditioned to do and have grown accustomed to accepting.
You get so used to the toilet being broken that you forget it’s not normal for the toilet to be broken. You forget how abnormal it is to have to take the extra steps that it requires to operate the toilet when you could very easily just flush it, were it fixed.
Sometimes in life, we get so used to things being broken that we forget what it’s like for things to be normal. We allow ourselves to get conditioned to dysfunctional relationships, careers, and environments, accepting less than what we desire and less than what we deserve. We end up not functioning as we were designed to function.
So many of us are out here living life with unfulfilled dreams, leaving a void in our hearts that grows the longer we go without pursuing those dreams. We work for other people, stressing ourselves out, and stretching ourselves thin, all the while, wishing we could do something we actually love doing and have a passion for. We get used to our hearts longing for more and we go on with life as if that’s normal. All of the extra effort that it takes to get our unhappy selves through each day is equivalent to jiggling the toilet handle to get the toilet to work right.
That’s not normal, and it shouldn’t be accepted.
What’s normal is for us to get up every day and be excited about the work that we get to do. What’s normal is feeling a strong sense of accomplishment at the end of every day, as opposed to feeling frustrated and stressed out. What’s normal is living a life that makes us proud and brings us great joy. What’s normal is for each of us to do our part to leave a lasting impact on the world.
You have something very special to offer, and it is absolutely possible to build a life that makes you feel happy and fulfilled. Your gift is unique to you and no one else in the world can hold a candle to any of your talents because they’re not you. You have the power to do what may seem impossible because you’ve been preparing for the opportunity to do so all your life.
Just like fixing the dysfunctional toilet handle requires action to be taken in order to fix it so that it functions as it was designed to do, your life requires action to be taken in order to fix it so that you function as you were designed to do.
So don’t accept broken things in your life. As soon as you notice that something needs to be fixed, fix it, and never ever ever allow yourself again to get so used to things being broken that you forget what it’s like for things to be normal.