Dealing with Rips
I tried to fix a rip on the knee of some pants I have by sewing it up. It worked for a short time. I was quite proud of myself. I'd fixed a pair of pants on my own. I showed them to people, expecting them to congratulate me on my handiwork. The sewn up tear added character to them. It was a badge of honor displaying my ingenuity and thriftiness and it made my pants unique.
Then later in the day the threading tore apart. The rip was worse. All it ever had any hope of being was a temporary fix. I hadn't actually solved the problem, I just thought I had.
That's kind of how life is sometimes. I think I have things together. Then a small rip happens. It's bound to happen. The integrity of various areas of my life aren't ever as strong as I think they are. I usually apply a quick fix to the problem. Maybe I'll avoid a situation or confrontation with someone. I'll suppress feelings I have so I don't have to deal with them. I'll ignore something I need to take care of in the hopes that it'll go away. Eventually whatever it is that I'm doing stops working and the rip gets worse and more noticeable.
The way to fix a rip in the knee is with a patch. Sure it's going to look pretty ugly, but it'll fix the problem.
Sometimes I wish I could just go grab a new pair of pants.