The Puzzle

Life is a puzzle. Each person is given a unique box to open and assemble in the way they choose. Sometimes there are others that come to give advice or influence how you assemble your puzzle based on how they assembled their own, but ultimately, it is your puzzle. But here is the kicker. There is no picture on the top of the box for you to follow. The puzzle’s picture reveals itself as you assemble.

When one dumps out the pieces, organization methods will look different. Some organize by color, edges, or inside pieces; some will just grab a piece and try to find an adjoining one. Over time, as you consistently try, parts of the picture begin to reveal themselves, allowing you to make clearer decisions to progress the puzzle.

And then you arrive at that inevitable moment where the section is almost complete sans one or two pieces. You sift and try, move and turn, yet you can’t seem to find those last pieces. At this point, you can insist to yourself that you need to complete this section of the puzzle now, or you could start piecing the other sections together. In due time, those pieces you needed for the first section will reveal themselves.

There will always be parts of your life, including your business, that feels incomplete. You may assume that blazing forward to settle one area is superior to moving your attention to the other areas. Yet, giving yourself the grace to be content with the status of one area, to focus on parts you have neglected, can actually drive, inspire, and equip you to return to the unfinished areas.

If a section of your puzzle brings frustration now instead of wonder and joy, take a break. Not physically. Mentally. Get a cup of creamy hot chocolate and take a breath. Then start another section. Be in the wonder and joy again. As the next section reveals itself, allowing you to find those remaining pieces of the section you left in frustration, wonder, and joy return. You celebrate. In the interim, you built a whole new section.

One key thought that can keep you in wonder and joy longer than in frustration is this: You have time. How much time you actually have, only God knows. When you perceive that you are running out of time, you will rush through moments, lose wonder and joy, and may even leave the puzzle altogether to sit in your room, pout that you cannot find the pieces you need. You leave the puzzle, never to be finished.