Broken…not beaten

As a fitness professional, I’ll occasionally record a video of a “life-changing” tip for our gym members. Sometimes the tips are pretty good. Other times they are excellent. (Read with sarcasm).

Recently I had a thought I knew would help people and I couldn’t wait to share it. I set up my recording studio (which includes a table, chair, Iphone and mic), mentally rehearsed my lines and hit record.

As I sat down on my chair and prepared to speak, I heard a loud crack and before I knew it I was flat on my back on the floor. My chair had broken and because I was recording my “life-changing tip”, I captured the whole thing on video.

I quickly watched the video, laughed to myself and began to clean up the mess from the broken chair. After a long internal deliberation, I decided to post the video on Facebook. It wasn’t the fitness tip that I wanted to share, but for some reason, I thought it would be funny to share with our gym members. If you are on Facebook, you can watch the video by clicking here.

Within several moments, I received a text from a few friends saying how loud they laughed at the video. A few minutes later, several comments appeared on Facebook and Instagram also letting me know how much they enjoyed the “fall”. I talked to my wife and she couldn’t stop laughing. Even some of my kid’s friends were cracking up watching. Apparently, posting the video was a good idea.

Later on, I was reflecting on my day (which I always seem to do) and made a startling realization.

As humans, something inside us tells us to be perfect. That same voice warns us to avoid being vulnerable. We certainly don’t want others to see us as less than awesome. On Facebook, we post our highlight reels while on Instagram we filter a picture until it’s flawless. In this digital age, we can create any reality we want others to see. Typically that reality is anything but real.

But as much as I struggled to share the video of me breaking the chair, I quickly learned that it’s often in our brokenness that we are the biggest blessing to others.

One my of fitness videos may receive a “like” or two. Occasionally, someone will say they enjoyed the tip. Even more rare is to receive a text thanking me for posting a video.

But that’s exactly what happened when people watched me in my “brokenness” For a few brief moments (actually about 7 seconds) people laughed. I mean really laughed. They felt joy. Enough joy to take the time out of their day to say, “Thanks for sharing.”

If that can happen with a 7 second video of a chair breaking, just think what could happen in real brokenness.

Life is often the opposite of what we believe. We think we need to be perfect to make a difference. We think it’s only when we are living on the mountaintop that we can help others. But the reality is, it’s the trips through the valleys, the times when we are down and out, the broken moments that leave scars that really prepare us to bless others.

None of us our perfect. We weren’t created to be. In a world thousands of years old, only One man made it through with a perfect rating….and they killed Him for it.

But it was His death and brokenness that gives us a chance at life. Your brokenness can do something similar for others.

Are you their savior? No. Are you their Messiah? Of course not. But if we are willing to share our tough times, our struggles, our brokenness with others, the very fact that we are still standing (and sharing) provides a hope and joy to a world that needs it.

I hope you have a perfect day today. But if your chair breaks, stand up, shake it off and tell others about it. They’ll be glad you did….and so will you.