There are many moments in our lives when everything feels broken beyond repair. Not just slightly shattered but completely broken. Life becomes irreparably damaged that it makes you lapse into silence, staring blankly, wondering how things fell apart in the blink of an eye. In those moments, the idea of nothing is so broken that it can’t be fixed, can feel overly optimistic, especially in a world filled with negativities. Mostly because you are standing in the middle of something entirely broken apart, which doesn’t look fixable.
On an individual basis, people experience being “broken” at least once in life. The state of being “broken” is not limited only to objects or situations. It lives deeply rooted inside people. This feeling comes in waves of disappointment and failure. heartbreaks, regrets, and losses only you can feel. A mistake you didn’t mean to make, a situation where you want to time-travel back and change, a silence where something meaningful existed.
But maybe not all broken things are to be fixed the way we imagine, and maybe we do not have to calculate our life to the last decimal point.
We often assume fixing means refurbishing something to exactly how it used to be. As if life were a perfect teapot that was once cracked into pieces, it must somehow become perfectly flawless again. People tend to expect perfection over the idea of fixing. But the reality is that when things break, it changes us. Like the teapot changes, our souls change. Through it all, what matters most is not leaving the broken pieces on the ground to decay, but gathering them piece by piece and making sure that they are never left broken forever.
A moment of breakdown does not define who you are. It is just a chapter. And you have to grow, to reflect, and to become stronger in ways you didn’t even know you were capable of. The human spirit is never too broken; it just needs medicine and repair because growth often comes from hardships. We should learn to spend time clearing up the mess rather than venting stress or rage baiting ourselves up. Time heals some wounds, but nothing mends on its own. Action is the key.
Time does not erase off the pain, but it softens it. What once felt insufferable slowly becomes something that we learn to carry with us. We have to acknowledge and accept the cracks because the fixed version is more important than the perfect delusional version. It is very easy to accept things are messy and broken up, and simply walk away but choosing to stay, to communicate, to forgive, and to rebuild lost connections is what truly defines us as humans. Not every lost relationship can or should be repaired, but even when people become estranged, the love, the lessons and the spirit do not disappear. They add on to who we are. The cracks themselves do not disappear immediately, but they become part of a great lesson.
Still, with all the beautiful repairs, it would be unrealistic to say that everything can be mended in the way we want. Some things break forever. Trust is the most suitable example that depicts this. Once trust is broken, it is very rarely mended back to the same level. It is quite devastating
to accept the fact that some losses are forever. But doesn’t that acceptance involve fixing? Surely it does by letting go of things that bothers you, learning to copen and learning how to move forward. Healing does not always suggest that you become perfect without zero flaws; it means regaining meaning and purpose to become someone strong enough to live with how things are as it is.
Mindset plays a crucial role when it comes to finding ways to fix our flaws. If a person believes that a situation is beyond repair, then it is less likely to make a positive change in life. On the other hand, a balanced, strong, and hopeful attitude encourages creative problem solving. Hope is required to provide motivation to face challenges and to believe in one’s true self. No matter how small hope is it pushes us to create the possibility of change. External factors like supportive friends and family members also pushes us to try again, to believe in ourselves and to trust the progress.
At the end, nothing is so broken that it cannot be fixed, not because everything can perfectly be replaced, but because there is always a way to move forward. If there is resilience, effort, and hope, there is always a possibility to fix things into a beautiful story more than just a life lesson, no matter whether it is a personal struggle or a societal issue.
Written By: –
Vishmika Amavi
(University of Colombo)
