I carried a broken iPhone screen for over a year.
The cracks raced across its entire screen like mini winding creeks, and I was frankly surprised it kept working.
I procrastinated getting it fixed. I took it on my travels and kept using it despite its poor screen function. I convinced myself I didn’t have time to fix my screen because I was too busy.
Even during my month of vacation this August, I kept subjecting myself to the substandard quality I was getting from this phone.
Until yesterday…
No, I didn’t replace the cracked screen.
I spent time online figuring out if it was better off buying a new phone because the price to fix it was about half the price.
Then I noticed something…
I pulled out my receipt to see if I’d also purchased some warranty and realized I had paid for a cheap $15 custom-fitted protector when I bought the phone close to two years ago.
The protector was what was cracked. Not the phone’s own screen. I’d simply forgotten I had a custom protector installed because it was so seamlessly integrated.
I had spent a whole year wearing and working with all this brokenness, when all I had to do was simply peel off the broken layer.
And once I did, the screen shone so brightly like it was brand new.
This morning, I sat with the lessons from this experience for an hour marinating, and these are the three key ones that bubbled up to the surface.
1) I was trying to fix a simple problem with an expensive solution. What parts of my life had I been neglecting because I thought the cost to fix it was a lot more than what was actually needed?
2) Procrastination made me settle for substandard solutions in my life. It made me accept a poor experience for close to a year because I didn’t take the time to properly value myself and my time.
3) What if I had peeled off that layer sooner and realized the pure power that was already underneath from the very start?
So I wanted to share what I’m now calling my Parable of the broken iPhone screen with you in the hopes it inspires you this week.
What layer of brokenness do you need to peel off in your life today so you can fully shine again like brand new?