uePlzz

I don’t know if there is anything more satisfying than putting the last piece of a puzzle in place and then standing back and looking at the full picture. All that hard work, all of that concentration, all of those moments when you got so frustrated that you wanted to snap the piece in half, all of those hours, it was finally all worth it. Everything finally fell right into place like it was supposed to.

How often does this happen in life? How often do all of the pieces of the puzzle fall perfectly together? Do we ever get all of the pieces right? Can you see your finished product and you are just struggling to get there? Do you have the right pieces? Better yet, do you have the right puzzle? What picture are you trying to create? Do your pieces correlate with that picture?

Well, coming from a self-proclaimed profession puzzler, who has done multiple puzzles and now has stared at this steel ring magic trick puzzle for a solid 30 minutes, I have come to the following conclusions which relate quite nicely in line with life:

First, sometimes you just don’t need all of the pieces to fit perfectly. It could be an old puzzle that is wore out so it is not going to fit nice and tight like a brand new puzzle would. Just make sure that the picture remains the same and you don’t try to add any new pieces.

Second, you might find that you do not have all the pieces. There may be holes, there may be gaps, but in the end, you can still see the big picture. Sometimes a piece may need to be replaced before you can make it whole again. Perhaps, you may not need to replace the piece at all.

Third, take a break. You can try so hard to do it all right the first time and in one go, but just take a break and then come back to it. You’ll find yourself in a much better mental space and are able to focus on your problem at hand allowing you to be more efficient solving your predicament.

Fourth, just because it looks like it fits does not mean it is the perfect fit. Depending on the difficulty of your puzzle, you may find that there is a piece that looks like it might go in that spot, but in fact it belongs somewhere else. Don’t force it to go in a spot that it does not belong. If you put the piece in a new place, things go smoother, as you may now find another piece that fits accordingly.

Fifth, buy a new puzzle. Some puzzles aren’t meant for you. Some puzzles will push you to your limits, some puzzles may have too many pieces missing to even complete the puzzle, some puzzles you may have done so many times that you already know how it ends, and some puzzles may have got mixed in with another puzzle and it is too difficult to tell which is which. Save yourself the headache and just get a new puzzle.

In life, there will be gaps, but that does not mean that you can’t get there. Sometimes you’ll find the old piece that you lost or you’ll find a new piece that fits better. All the pieces make up who you are. Rearrange the pieces and you get a different look. Don’t be afraid to pick up a new piece or replace an old one.

Don’t forget that sometimes it may seem like a good fit, but a good fit, isn’t going to get you to the finished product. Don’t let a good piece guide you astray because it is easier to leave it there for now rather than getting rid of it and finding where it fits later. After all, it could be the piece to a different puzzle.

Pick up the pieces, build your puzzle, fill the gaps, then take a step back and look at the beauty in the mirror that you created.