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Life Puzzle

I am getting ready to go to a jigsaw puzzle exchange this morning.  I love doing jigsaw puzzles.  I find them very absorbing and relaxing. I am able to completely let go of worries and give my busy brain a break when I am working on a puzzle. 

I like thinking about the shapes and colors and how they fit together.  I like looking at the particulars of a piece and seeing how it might fit in a spot.  I am not particularly spatial so it is a good mental exercise for me and fun to boot.  I love when a picture starts to make sense, when it goes from just being a bunch of pieces to looking like something recognizable.  When it moves from bits and pieces to a whole picture. 

I get frustrated when the pieces are too small to hold, or they don't stay together well, or even worse, when they are all exactly the same and one piece can fit in more than one place, but not vice versa.  Subtle tiny differences.  I have to wear glasses so I don't like when the picture is so small I cannot see the details to help me to figure out where to put the pieces of the puzzle.  Still, I wouldn't give it up because I enjoy putting them together so much.

I want life to be like a jigsaw puzzle sometimes…and it is.  I want it to be like an easy 500 piece puzzle with large pieces, distinct patterns, each piece slightly different, stays together well, beautiful colors that I love, and makes a lovely picture.  I want life to come together like a puzzle where I can put the edges together first so I can see how much time it will take to fill and I get to fill in the parts I want first. 

The thing is, life is like a puzzle, but the edges are undefined and change over time, the pieces don't stay together the way I want them to, and more than one piece fits in a spot and it is only later that I realize it is the wrong piece.  The colors are often dingy and unpleasant.  The whole picture is not clear and I have no box lid to go by so I just have to keep working at it until it is completed.

Sometimes I think a piece is missing but I know it cannot be as it was brand new and I am the only person that has been working on it.  Usually I find the piece, but it is long after I have gone on to another part of the puzzle.   And boy is it boring sometimes.  I keep trying piece after piece in the same spot because they are all the same color and I have to find the one that fits. 

How would I approach my life puzzle if it was like working a jigsaw puzzle.   I would enjoy the process, look for shapes, colors, and patterns and try and fit them together.  Move to another spot if I cannot figure out the one I am working.  Find a part of the puzzle where I like the colors or picture and do it first so I have something to spur me on.  Do a visualization of what I want my life picture to look like and keep it in mind as I fit pieces together.  Don't worry about the edges.  Trust that all the pieces are there.  Leave it alone for awhile and then look again.  It is another way to approach self-examination and that is an ongoing and worthwhile pursuit and puzzle.
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  1. Dennis TardanMarch 12, 2014 at 9:58 AM

    Ah, Melissa... I have to find life metaphors that resonate with me and who I am. Knowing you, I see you've found one that grooves with all of your talents and proclivities -- you recognize patterns where the rest of us see noise, you have the tenacity to keep trying even in the face of adversity or setbacks (you don't always recognize how much you do this!), you use your intuition to find the perfect solution from out of the blue. This post gives me more insight into you and how you see the world. Thank you, sweetie.

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