I don’t like violence, anger or hurtful intentions towards others. However directed and purposeful force is often required in life.
Why am I saying this? Yesterday and for the past few days my water filter has been filtering water extremely slow. I had put a new filter in a few weeks ago and while it was fast initially it seemed to slow down.
I read the instructions from other people who had this problem and they suggested things that I tried. They said to shake it, to slam it against the surface to dislodge air bubbles. I did that and it had no effect on solving the problem.
Other suggestions were to make sure the rubber set was set and that it wasn’t worn out and too old and filled with sediment from the water. I knew those weren’t the problem either.
So I was perplexed. I did further research and other water filtering filters had the same issue. One post said it needed vigorous shaking so with nothing to lose, I tried it. I shook it like a Polaroid picture. Then I slammed it hard against the surface of the kitchen counter and squeezed the container. I was either going to fix this problem or break the filter.
When I put the filter back in it filtered faster than I had ever seen it done in the past. Now I know that being gentle in some situations doesn’t fix the problem. I really like the old saying “Talk softly and carry a big stick.” That has inspired me in life to do things as kindly and gently as possible. However when that fails, more force is clearly required.