When the Torn Parts Still Work, Until You Finally Fix Them

For the longest time, I kept using my phone charger even though the skin of its wiring was already torn. I noticed the damage growing little by little, but since it still worked, I didn’t think it needed fixing. A bit of electrical tape was all I had, and it felt enough to keep things together. Every time I plugged it in, and it charged just fine, I convinced myself it was okay. Functional. Manageable. Still doing its job.

I didn’t realize how long I had been living with that kind of “it’s fine.”

Then one day, while scrolling through Shopee, I stumbled upon something called a Charger Cover Protector Silicone Cable Accessory. It looked simple and cute, the kind of thing you don’t think you need until you see it. I bought one, and when it finally arrived, I wrapped it around my old, taped-up charger. Just like that, it looked new again.

And strangely, I felt something soften inside me.

It was such a small thing, but it reminded me of how long I had ignored what was slowly wearing out, simply because it hadn’t completely stopped working. I realized how easy it is to normalize something broken as long as it still functions. You start to believe that as long as it does its job, it doesn’t deserve real repair, only quick fixes.

But maybe that’s also how I’ve treated myself sometimes.

There were moments when I knew I was fraying. Tired, stretched thin, and barely holding on. Yet I told myself, “I’m still working, so it’s okay.” I kept covering up the worn parts, taping over cracks with small distractions or quiet endurance. I was doing enough to keep things together, but never enough to actually protect what was left.

It’s funny how a simple charger cover could make me think about all the parts of myself I’ve only been “taping over.”

Sometimes we keep functioning for so long that we forget what real care feels like. We confuse endurance for strength. We celebrate survival but overlook the quiet exhaustion it brings. We think that as long as we are still charging, still lighting up, still showing signs of life, then we must be fine.

But just because something still works does not mean it isn’t wearing down.

When I wrapped that silicone protector around my charger, it was not just about keeping it neat or making it look new. It was about giving something that has been through a lot a little bit of protection it should have had all along. It was about realizing that care does not have to wait until something stops working. Sometimes we can choose to care before the break happens, before the spark fades, before the wire snaps.

That is what I am learning about healing too.

You do not always have to start over. You do not always have to throw away what has been used or wounded or scarred. Sometimes healing is simply learning how to care differently. To protect better this time. To give attention to what has been quietly carrying you, even when it was not at its best.

My charger looks new now. Not because it was replaced, but because it was cared for properly. It is the same one that kept me going through nights of low battery and mornings of rushing to work, now with a soft layer of protection that keeps it from breaking further.

And maybe that is what healing looks like in life too. Not a total replacement, but a gentle restoration.

I used to think healing meant starting over. Now I think it means staying, but treating things more kindly this time.

It means learning to stop using tape when what you need is care.

It means realizing that you can still protect what is left and make it stronger, even after it has been worn and torn.

Because life after the misses and messes is not about pretending nothing broke.

It is about seeing the wear and tear and deciding that it still deserves care.

It is about knowing that even if you have been through a lot, you can still look new in your own way. Not because you have replaced everything that hurt, but because you have finally learned how to protect what remains. - MESSY E.

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