A hunk of twisted metal and plastic. That’s all it is now.

It used to be the derailleur on my bike. The piece that helps me go faster or slower. Or work harder. Or make things a little easier.

You need it to shift gears.

No idea how or why it broke. I started to pedal up a hill, shifted gears, and SNAP. It twisted up and over the sprockets. Every bike nerd I showed it to expressed shock and disbelief that such an orientation was possible. “It’s not supposed to do that.”

It was only a couple of months old so it must have been installed wrong. But the metaphor that occurred to me was one of trying to do too much. Shifting too quickly. Or overextending.

So now it sits on the windowsill in my office. As a visual reminder to check your equipment and don’t shift into something new too quickly.