Jennifer Hoffman – This is a photo of my (former) oil sprayer. It’s in pieces because it’s broken, although I did spend a considerable amount of time — two days — trying to fix it. I don’t like throwing things away and I think that kitchen gadgets should last forever but in this case, while it was not working properly, I made it worse by trying to fix it. After trying numerous things, I came to the point where I had to acknowledge that it was beyond repair and throw it away. Sometimes our choices for release revolve around whether it’s a good use of our time and energy to try to fix something and to acknowledge when it’s broken beyond repair. Saying ‘no’ can be the objective of a lesson and the source of its greatest empowerment.

I use an oil sprayer I can fill instead of canned sprays because I’m allergic to the propellants they contain. The oil sprayer did work well at first, but then it got all gummy inside and wouldn’t spray. So I did what I always do when things don’t work, I took it apart. Then I soaked the pieces in white vinegar, and in hot, soapy water, dried them off, and tried unsuccessfully to put it back together. That’s when I decided that I was going to fix it and make it work. So I took it apart some more, breaking it beyond repair. Then I realized that I was spending more time trying to fix the sprayer than I needed to and it was time to throw it away.

Where is that point where something is broken beyond repair and we need to release it forever? It’s an easy decision with an oil sprayer, not so easy with something with much different, long lasting, life-changing, and serious consequences. But sometimes the choice to release something forever is our only option, no matter how much we don’t want to make the decision to let something go. Continue reading →