This post is dedicated to my fabulous brother-in-law who taught me this practice of breaking plates in my Freshman year of high school (almost 11 years ago!!! Good God.. I'm old).
My boyfriend at the time had broken up with me and I was devastated by circulating rumors and a possible "scandal" that might have occurred. My life was clearly in shambles. You see to really appreciate this story you have to understand the dynamic of mine and my brother-in-law's relationship at the time. It was a love/hate, "I'm going to disagree with everything you have to say just to spite you" sort of deal.
There was definitely love, but that love came from the inner joy of getting under the other's skin. So you see in this scenario, he would be the last person I would ever imagine to help coax me through this heart breaking process. However, because he has the capability to be a knight in shining armor, (and let's just be honest he would gain some big major points here all around the scoreboard, which he rightfully deserved!! :) ) he decided it was essential that he take me under his wing and show me a few things on dealing with life's lemons.
With mascara running down my face (way too much mascara might I add, I seriously could have potentially gone blind from the chemical spill that was occurring in my eye balls) he told me to pull it together and come with him because we were going to Walmart. I was like Walmart?? Really... What do they have self help therapy sessions next to the optometrist now? But because I was at my wits end and couldn't bear the thought of having my mom (who is absolutely the best Mom in the entire world and needs to know what is going on in all her childrens' lives so she can fix or kill whoever or whatever is hurting them and make it all better) eavesdrop on any more of my phone conversations, I willingly went along.
We got to the local Upland Walmart and went to the fine china aisle. Tim told me to pick out whatever set I wanted and to make it good. I was like huh? You want me to pick out dishes at a time like this! He told me to just do it and so reluctantly I did. After Walmart he drove me up Euclid to the wash... I was like is he going to put me out of my misery up here or what?? We hiked a little ways to the huge concrete wash, dishes in hand, and when we reached the spot he told me to open the box of dishes. I opened up the box and then he instructed me to scream at the top of my lungs whatever was hurting, whatever I needed to scream and to release it by throwing a dish of my choice as hard as I possibly could against the concrete wall. I stood there in awe "Like Really?". He said "Really". It took me 0.05 seconds to smash a cup straight against the wall cursing my boyfriends name to H E DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS and back!
It felt good. It felt really good.
I did it again and again and then even began releasing some of my innermost turmoil that didn't even have anything to do with my current situation. I could see the look on my brother-in-laws face, it was like "Damn GInnnnnaaaa". I think he was almost afraid for his own life. After I threw the very last dish, and you can bet your two headed donkey that I made it a good one, I wiped away the tears and gave him a big hug. It was a bonding moment, but then the hug was a little too much so we simultaneously released and gave each other a good pat on the back. I don't know if I ever told him how much I appreciated him in that moment. He helped me regain my confidence, my sanity, everything that I thought was taken from me. He helped me vent.
Tim, my brother-in-law served as an example of Christ that night. I always forget that God wants me to do that for me. He even wants me to throw my lemons at him so he can give me a new recipe for what to do with them.
Over the years, I've mastered this technique and have even tweaked it with some very dear friends. Rather than china, I specifically seek out individual breakable items at the 99 cents store that symbolize my stresses in my life. You'd be surprised with the inventory they provide you to work with. There's a figurine for every matter! Believe me its a dollar well spent.
I encourage you to smash your lemons and make lemonade with the remnants :)
And if you need someone to go with you... I'm a phone call away (I'm always up for some smashing and vandalizing) (If only I were kidding).
Can someone say "OPA"!!
(This image was taken from http://img.ehowcdn.co.uk/article-page-main/ehow/images/a08/9t/3n/glue-broken-plate-800x800.jpg)
- Lync
