Puzzle Pieces

You know when you meet someone for the first time and think, Where have you been all my life? There are certain people who you just click with, you jive, you dance and things are good. Then there are people who you meet and instantly wish you could unmeet them. There’s no clicking or jiving and the only dance you are doing is the one to get away from this new acquaintance. (Not that he or she is bad, but he just doesn’t fit into your puzzle.)

I’ve recently been pondering relationships and human interactions. Side bar: Some of you may be raising your eyebrows with a slight smirk on your lips because, if you pay any attention to the happenings on my Facebook page, you will know I recently entered into a relationship (with someone wonderful).  While this “someone wonderful” may have triggered a few of these thoughts below, the term “relationships” here (in this post) does not strictly apply to the romantic kind, but rather a reflection of all forms of relationships: family, friends, significant others, circumstances and opportunities. End side bar.

Each of our lives are like a large, intricate, and challenging jigsaw puzzle. The kind that would take you several weeks to put together; the kind that takes over your dining room table and beckons you to keep assembling it even though you have more important things to do. Maybe you don’t enjoy puzzles, in which case this analogy is totally lost on you.

All puzzles start the same way: with a single piece. After dumping the contents of the box onto the table, any puzzler begins by picking up one piece. That initial piece is you. Unique, uncoordinated, unambiguous. The puzzler then examines the piece and looks for a second piece to fit it.

All of the remaining puzzle pieces that are scattered about your dining room table represent the people and places and opportunities you will have throughout your life. You will find friends and a husband or a wife and a family. You make choices and take chances with your career and the place you choose to live. Your whole life spread on the dining room table.

Assembling this puzzle, just like any other puzzle, takes trial and error. You may try to make a piece fit, foolishly forcing it into place, while other pieces will effortlessly slide into their designated spot. As the pieces begin to fit together, the beauty of your life becomes evident. Each of these people, places, or opportunities are no longer individual shapes, they are now a part of you and who you are.

A too common characteristic of puzzles are their missing pieces. How many puzzles have been started only to be disassembled by disgruntled puzzlers because pieces were discovered missing? Missing puzzles pieces are okay. The missing pieces represent loss and brokenness. At one time that piece fit perfectly into your puzzle, into your life, but the friendship was severed. At one time that job was a great fit for you, but then you were fired. While these things are hard and painful, they are still a part of your story, your puzzle. You can keep assembling a puzzle without all the pieces; in fact, that is what we are supposed to do. Keep assembling, keep going. Acknowledge the heartache, but keep going.

Our lives are puzzles: confusing, complex, captivating. But we get to figure them out, to assemble, to try and fail, to love and lose. Every piece is necessary, so embrace them all. Sometimes it’s okay to step away from the puzzle for a while to gain a new perspective and look at the big picture, but don’t give up on the task you have set out to accomplish. Keep puzzling.