I Have To Fix It

In almost every endeavor I'm involved in, I can easily spot what I think needs fixing. Having this gift is in some ways great and in other ways bad. Let me explain...

For months, I had a rattle on my motorcycle that about drove me to tears. Every time I rode it I was driven to the point of madness and every time I got off I went into fix it mode. For months I took things apart, tightened this screw and that bolt and still at the end of the day the rattle remained.

Then one day, I decided to just enjoy the ride and ignore the rattle. Wouldn't you know this was the day that I uncovered the problem and fixed it. Turns out it was a loose nut on one of my highway pegs. I was embarrassed, a little mad, but most of all disappointed in myself. All the countless hours trying to fix it stole the joy that riding brings.

For all those months that I was desperately trying to figure what the issue was, I actually made matters worse. In my desire to get it fixed, I weakened other parts of the bike, stripped out screw heads and threads and on more than one occassion almost lost control of the bike while trying to find the problem in the middle of riding (I know not smart).

I can't help but think how this "fix it" mentality has effected my life in other ways. How many opportunities I missed, relationships I weakened and victories I've sabotaged all because I find myself in "fix it" mode. We into the trap of thinking that things are broken because they don't sound, look, or feel like we think they should, so we go into fix it mode and end up weakening the integrity of life itself. If we just learn to move through life in a forward motion, while enjoying it along the way, we'll get so much further in all we do.

How about you? Are you trying to fix too much and missing out on life?