Connecting the pieces
Written by Nadine Algets Tuesday, 03 November 2009 08:00
When I was younger, I used to love working on puzzles. I had a specific technique that I liked to use to accomplish each puzzle. I always started with the border first, getting each edge piece in place to create a sturdy support system before tackling the middle section. Once the border was done, I would then fill in the middle – sometimes spending days slowly assembling the pieces.
I always found puzzles to be a great analogy for life. The outer frame or border resembled the constants in life, such as family, values, and everything else that holds you together and supports you through life.
The middle of the puzzle is something that assembles little by little. You slowly find which pieces fit with each other. Similarly in life, who you are and what you become can be based on experiences, events and ordeals in your life.
I have developed many friends through the various jobs I have had. In that way, I found the first piece of the puzzle (a job) and after a while my friendships became a new piece to connect with that.
Those friendships then found ways to connect with other aspects of my life. I created memories with those individuals, met more people through them and some even made their way into my frame of life. These people are so important that they help exemplify who I am.
Sometimes you will have an experience and you may not know right away where it fits into your life. You push that “piece of the puzzle” to the side until eventually you find a piece that will fit together perfectly. Suddenly that random piece that couldn’t seem to fit has made a connection – one that will permanently affect the rest of the puzzle.
Of course with most puzzles that you have had for a while, a piece sometimes goes missing. You may lose something in life – a piece that completes the puzzle and has a spot to fit perfectly, but it is just no longer there.
When you lose a loved one, there is an empty space reserved for them in your puzzle. The pieces surrounding that empty spot may be the memories you shared with them and will always hold an importance in your life.
All the pieces eventually sum up to the big picture: life. With its constant evolution and change, the puzzle will expand and adjust to become who and what you are at certain points in your life.
Be grateful that each puzzle piece – whether it is your friends, family, values, experiences, education or whatever else – has helped to bring you closer to discovering the true you by filling in the puzzle, one piece at a time.
