Fundamental Natural Law #2

"Anything you break, can always be fixed."

The Lamp

When I was a young teenager, Bruce Lee came out with the movie, Enter the Dragon. My friends and I didn’t have money for karate lessons so we went home and created our own Nunchaku out of inch and a half wooden hickory dowels with two I-Bolts and 4 inches of chain.

One night when no one was home, while practicing in the living room with those newly made Nunchaku, I accidentally hit my mom’s favorite lamp and broke it into 7 pieces. “Oh crap, am I in trouble,” was my initial thought.

I gathered up all the broken pieces of the lamp and moved into the kitchen. Grabbing the bottle of glue I went to work carefully putting the pieces back together. An hour later I positioned the lamp on its original spot. I was admiring my work when the front door opened. It was my mom. She flipped on the light switch, which was connected to the wall socket where the lamp was plugged. The lamp did not light. Panic started to set in. I completely forgot to change the light bulb. I knew I was a dead young man as she started over.

Under closer examination she asked, “What happened to my lamp?”

At which time, I promptly responded, “I don’t know.”

As she looked closer, she was able to see the glue lines and I realized I was busted.

She sat me down and explained, “I am upset, not angry, but disappointed. I wish you had told me the truth. As you know, this is my favorite lamp. The fact of the matter is that I have broken this lamp twice before. Anything you break can always be fixed son. If you would have told me the truth I could have helped you fix it. Life is made of choices and you made a bad choice tonight. The lamp can be fixed in an evening. However, fixing a lie will take much longer to repair. Don’t lie to me son.”

What I should have done as soon as she walked in is said:

“Mom, I love you and just so you know, I was working out with my Nunchaku and accidentally broke your lamp. I glued it back together and it actually looks much better, don’t you think?”

However, because I chose not to do that, I ended up getting two days of restriction for breaking the lamp and two weeks more for not telling the truth.

Anything you break can always be fixed and it is much easier to fix the material things. So try not to break the important stuff, like the trust that people have in you.

Dedicated to your achievement,
Garland R. Johnson
Assistant Professor Garland R. Johnson