Lessons from a broken chair

On Tuesday, I was sitting on my chair at home. On several occassion I heard a funny sound, perhaps a cracking kind of sound, for several times. I ignored the sound and didn't think of it at all. The time came for me to sit on the chair one last time. I sat on it and the chair broke and gave away completely sending me to the floor with some pain on my buttock.

As I went down I screamed a little bit because of the surprise/shock. Lean Choo was in the house but she ignored me for awhile. After some time she came and told me that she wasn't sure whether it was for real for whether I was just acting, hix, hix.

I learnt some lessons from this "broken chair" incident.

1. Do not ignore warnings

The chair gave me warnings but I ignored it to my own peril.

At times we tend to ignore the warnings of life as well. These warnings can come from God, others, circumstances or our own conscience. If we do this we are doing this to our own peril.

“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches." (Revelation 2:17a - NLT)

2. Appearance can be deceiving

Prior to Tuesday I had never imagined that this kind of chair can ever collapse. But appearance can be deceiving. In life, we must look deeper than appearance. There is nothing wrong with good appearance by itself. But is there substance behind the appearance?

Appearance can be deceiving. What looks good is not necessarily good. The opposite is also true.

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." (Proverbs 14:12 - NIV)

3. Credibility is earned through integrity

I like acting. Nowadays, I do not have much opportunity to act though. However, when I was with Lean Choo I would act from time to time. As such, when the incident happened she didn't know whether I was acting or whether it was for real.

It is just like the story of a boy who cries out "tiger" when there is none. When there is a real tiger and he cries out for help people think that he is fooling around again.

Indeed, credibility is earned through integrity. People would believe in your testimony if you have been consistent and honest in your words and deeds. :)

Does it mean that I have to stop acting? :)

4. It is important to feel secure in life

I know what my wife was thinking of when she saw the incident. She thought that I was heavy. That's why the chair gave way.

But I know that that's not true. The incident had nothing to do with my weight. :) Definitely, it was the chair's fault, not mine.

Good thing that I was secure. I wasn't affected by what Lean Choo thought of me. Praise God, he he.


One broken chair and four life lessons to learn. I guess I can now lay the chair to rest in peace for it has served its purpose and more.