The Puzzle
When he came to visit last summer we put together a large, 2’x3′ dinosaur puzzle. Once it was all put together he’d want to take it apart and then to it all over again. I love that, I love the pure enjoyment he receives figuring it out. As it comes to physical puzzles (I’m not big on electronic ones) I, by and large, enjoy them the same as my nephew. There is something satisfying in the figuring out and completion. Yet, there are other puzzles out there where the struggle to figure it out is not quite as satisfying, namely figuring out where we individually fit in this puzzle of life.
There are many ways to understand how we fit in life. I like to think of life as one extremely large and intricate puzzle. Each person is a piece that has specific talents and influences. We have specific shapes, colors, and sides, and most importantly, we fit in a specific spot in the puzzle. Just as a 1000 piece puzzle looks incomplete even with just 1 piece missing so does life look incomplete with just one of us missing. We all play a vital role in the puzzle of life.
Knowing Our Piece and Place
Looking at my previous statement you may think I am a determinist or lean toward a predestination world view. That’s not exactly the case. When I mention we have specific shapes, colors, and sides, these are not always inherited traits. In fact, I believe most of who we are are built in the choices we make. It is those choices that gives us our shapes and colors. It’s our personalities, our desires, our likes and dislikes, our temperament – things we choose for ourselves (and sometimes the things we don’t choose) that create our place in the puzzle of life.
It’s not just knowing ourselves as the pieces it’s knowing that the puzzle itself is also in flux, always reshaping itself. Much like a shoal of fish that swim together in seeming harmony so does the the puzzle of life. It bends, waves, even shimmers at times. When in sync the puzzle of shoaling fish can be breathtaking.
Misplaced Pieces
Just as a stray fish that doesn’t move with the pack is noticeable so are we when are out of sync. That’s why knowing our piece and place is important. ‘Know thyself’ is not just a pretty phrase but is a very helpful directive. If we don’t know ourselves we don’t know our shape, our colors or our place in the puzzle of life.
When this happens we become misplaced pieces. We try to jam ourselves into part of the puzzle that isn’t ours. Just like putting two pieces that make look like they go together we sometimes force things that aren’t meant to be. We forget about the whole picture on the box and only focus on being the all important corner or outside edge, or the face of Ironman. We think our spotty greeness isn’t all that exciting. But when the puzzle is put together, with us in our right spots, we may end up being the tree that protects Ironman. Without our understanding of both the puzzle and ourselves as individual pieces we can become misplaced.
The Lost Piece
Lost puzzle pieces can be disheartening, and the more lost pieces the more incomplete the puzzle is. When I look around, especially with myself right now, I see lots of lost pieces. There are many out there searching, trying to find out their colors and shapes. There are some among the missing that think they are a different part of the puzzle and have become misplaced, jamming themselves in areas that isn’t theirs.
I count myself among the first group – I’m am at a loss as to my shape and color(s). Without knowing that I can never find my place in the puzzle of life. I sit here among many, many other lost pieces, searching. I guess that is the next step, the thing I need to “get to it.” I certainly hope this year becomes my year of perfect vision rather than hindsight and I am one less lost puzzle piece. I hope to become like my nephew and am no longer puzzled by the puzzle.
Attempt it. Chance it. Try it. Get to It![/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section]