We’ve all got that one thing that refuses to stay fixed. Maybe it’s a leaky faucet, a drawer that won’t close right, or, if you’ve got chickens, a fence that just won’t do its job!
You patch it up, tighten the posts, reinforce the weak spots, and tell yourself this time, it’ll hold. Then, sure enough, a gust of wind, a determined hen, or just plain bad luck comes along, and you’re right back where you started. Chickens roaming free, scratching where they shouldn’t, pecking at things they’re not supposed to, climbing under the front porch, while you stand there, hands on your hips, questioning every decision that led to this moment.
And isn’t that just like life?
Fixing the Symptom, Ignoring the Cause
It’s easy to slap a quick fix on a problem and move on. The fence leans? Prop it up. The chickens escape? Patch the hole. It works for a little while, but unless you address what’s really wrong, weak posts, shallow foundations, worn-out materials, you’ll be fixing it over and over again.
We do the same thing in life. Feeling overwhelmed? Grab another cup of coffee and push through. Relationship struggles? Ignore the hard conversation and hope things smooth over. Burnt out? Tell yourself you just need to make it to the weekend. These solutions feel like they work… until they don’t.
Some Problems Require a Full Rebuild
At some point, you have to decide: are you going to keep patching, or are you going to rebuild?
Maybe the fence needs deeper posts, stronger materials, a new design altogether. Maybe the chickens are telling you something, like that they need more space, a better coop, or a different setup that works with their nature instead of against it.
In life, too, some things just aren’t meant to be patched. If you keep hitting the same roadblocks, maybe it’s time for a different approach. That means digging deeper, figuring out what’s really wrong, and being willing to put in the effort to fix it for good.
Lessons from a Determined Chicken
Chickens don’t care how many times you fix the fence. If they want out, they will find a way. They are persistent, relentless little creatures, and honestly, there’s something to admire in that! They don’t just accept limits, they test them, challenge them, and break through them.
Maybe that’s a lesson for us, too. When something in life keeps falling apart, maybe it’s not just about fixing the fence, it’s about understanding why we keep ending up in the same situation. Maybe, like the chickens, we’re meant to find a better way.
Because no matter how many times we set up barriers, life has a way of reminding us: the real solution isn’t in patching the problem, it’s in understanding why it won’t stay fixed in the first place.
Yard 2 Yield! 