Hey there , let's start with a few questions . What are you doing right now that feels too easy , or maybe too hard or not quite challenging enough ? And
when things fall apart , do you try to piece them back together again or do you walk away altogether ? How do you decide which pieces of your life to focus on when everything feels scattered ? These are just a few of the questions I've been pondering about what my unfinished jigsaw puzzle teaches me , and I've come up with a few insights that might resonate with you as you consider your own life puzzle .
Speaker 1So there's a table at our cottage that is perfect for puzzles . We found it in the basement , a relic from the 50s left behind by its previous owner . One person's trash , another's treasure . It was love at first sight Coffee table height with extendable leaves on both sides , and I knew exactly where to put it by the window
seat next to the kitchen . I have enjoyed countless happy hours playing there , listening to jazz and nibbling on cheese and crackers while dinner was cooking . Note if you're eating while puzzling , there's a very good chance you'll bite a piece . Are eating while puzzling there's a very good chance you'll bite a piece .
Speaker 1I always have a puzzle going , no matter the season and , aside from our cat coming close to destroying it by skidding across the table , it remains there until it is complete , sometimes weeks , usually months . Even though the universal goal of puzzlers is to finish it , I'm never in a hurry to get it done . I find comfort knowing it's available to me when I want a meditative reprieve or a challenge . It offers me so many things . You might say . It's become a piece of my life that fits , and before you even start choosing which puzzle you embark on , takes some consideration . For me , the image itself is of ultimate importance . Well , not because I want to display it , which I never do . I disassemble mine within days and take it to Goodwill or share it with a friend or neighbor .
Speaker 1I look for puzzles that tell a story . If I'm going to devote time and energy to something , I like to get to know the characters
and the world they live in . I'm drawn to scenes that are colorful , with lots of detail . There's nothing more satisfying than discovering the fishmonger's missing hat or reuniting a mitten with the rosy-cheeked snowballer in the holiday square . The level of difficulty definitely affects my degree of engagement . I quickly lose interest in puzzles that are too easy and I grow weary with the ones that are too hard . I find the ones with too much of the same color especially tedious . I remember watching my mom doing one when I was a little girl that was almost entirely blue . How patient she must have been . There must have been thousands of tiny pieces . It was an underwater scene with schools of fish . So , like Goldilocks , I look for puzzles that are just right , doable but challenging enough to keep me interested .
Speaker 1Getting started can be simultaneously daunting and exciting . It's an investment of time , trust and willingness to learn , of time , trust and willingness to learn . The moment when you open the box with the image so beautifully displayed on its cover , only to find it broken up into 1,000 or more tiny pieces , can feel overwhelming .
It takes time to become familiar with all the pieces , to have a sense that things belong somehow , but feel unsure how they fit together . Daunting To be comfortable with , not knowing . It's the ultimate collaboration when you think about it , each piece as vital as the next to completing the puzzle , all coming together to create the whole . Oh , and PS never overlook the significance of each and every piece .
Speaker 1Have you ever got to the end of a puzzle and found there was one missing ? How did that make you feel . Where in your life might you be disregarding the smaller , seemingly insignificant pieces of your life puzzle ? I've learned that how you prepare affects the process . I used to just dump the pieces out and dive in figuring things out as I went along , and it worked well enough , but at the end of the day I ended up with a mess to clean up , not to mention the need to protect my progress from our marauding felines . I have since invested in sorting trays and a plexiglass cover to prevent any midnight catastrophes .
But you know , everyone is different , and doing it for a while has helped me explore all the different ways I might proceed . You can learn a lot about someone by how they approach puzzle solving . Everyone brings something different to the table .
Speaker 1My mother-in-law fixates on assembling the framework , often staying up long after we have said goodnight , making sure all the edges are in place , and my adult daughter enjoys coming along and chatting and popping in a few pieces here and there , in no particular sequence , and then wandering off again . My husband when I can actually get him to stop doing something else , he's very intense . I can actually get him to stop doing something else . He's very intense . He puzzles in short spurts , racing to find pieces that fit quickly , and when they don't , he tends to lose interest . Sometimes I stare at the same piece over and over and over , trying to make sense out of it . It never ceases to surprise and delight me , though , when I realize it's not what I thought . It was at all . Out of context , without reference to the other pieces , it seems completely foreign , but once it finally slips into place , it's so obvious it couldn't have been anything else . It couldn't have been anything else .
Speaker 1When have you found yourself making judgments or assumptions based on what you think things are , without considering the whole picture ? I've also noticed there's a certain momentum that builds as you near the end , and when it's finished
it's often bittersweet . I have a question for you how do you experience the journey to completion , and when you arrive or finish , does it always look the way you thought that it would ? You know ? It reminds me how important it is to understand and stay connected to why , why we do anything and everything . For me , when I first started doing jigsaws , it was about family . I envisioned us gathering at the holidays and laughing and chatting while we sat around the puzzle , doing something together , working toward a common goal , and for a few seasons . That was true , but these days I find I enjoy puzzling even more when I'm alone . What is it that I like most about it ? Really , when I think about it honestly , besides the inherent meditative nature of it , I most enjoy what puzzling has taught me .
Speaker 1Here are just a few things I've learned through my puzzle habit that I now carry into other areas of my life , puzzle habit that I now carry into other areas of my life . It's harder to find something when you aren't sure what you are looking for . Things come more easily when you have a sense of direction . Sense of direction , trying and getting it wrong first is exactly what leads to getting it right . Recognizing patterns is an essential part of understanding the the bigger picture . Not finding the right fit actually leads you to where you want to go . Most profoundly , though , puzzling has taught me this the places where we've tried and failed often help us in the long run , because we've been there before .
Speaker 1What doesn't feel like a fit right now may very well turn out to be the missing piece that connects where we've been to where we're going . So these are just some of the insights I've gathered , and I invite you to try them on and see what fits , or perhaps you'll discover new ones that become essential pieces in your own life puzzle . I leave you with wise words of Deepak Chopra , who
reminds us I leave you with wise words of Deepak Chopra , who reminds us there are no extra pieces in the universe . Everyone is here because he or she has a place to fill and every piece must fit itself into the big jigsaw puzzle . What peace do you want to be ? I'm Lisa Hopkins . Thanks so much for listening . Stay safe and healthy , everyone , and remember to live in the moment .