When Life Has You Puzzled

This post was written a year ago and has been sitting in my “pending drafts” folder because #life, #husband, #child, #job (pick any one of them… if you are adventurous, pick all of them.) A recent shift in life priorities has offered me more time to write (you can read about that here.) I offer this post with a better late than never sentiment attached to it! Enjoy!

There is a hobby that I have loved since childhood and I am kind of embarrassed to admit it. In the spirit of the whole “be transparent, life out loud” mantra, I am forcing myself to share it… Are you ready?

I don’t really, entirely know how to tell you this so I am just going to go ahead and say it…

I sometimes enjoy putting together puzzles – And by “sometimes enjoy” what I mean is that I friggen’ love putting together puzzles. Also, they make me giddy.

Possibly weird, I know.

You might think this factoid about me basically means I am super lame… Whatever, Bruh. Before you judge me, hear me out.

I come from a long lineage of professional puzzle constructors. My grandma and grandpa did puzzles and my Ma herself has laid down the pieces to many a puzzle. I remember growing up helping Grams and Gramps on their latest masterpiece. We would sit at the table in their basement and sort through thousands of tiny pieces. If I close my eyes I can still feel the shag carpet between my toes and smell the amazing smells of Grams’ house. We must have put together thousands and thousands of little jagged pieces. I was such a Rookie at the time but years of practice has paid off. I basically I have a PhD in puzzle constructing now. You can have my autograph if you want.

There I was in Target, minding my own business on an outing with my little man. What caught my eye as I was gallivanting through the aisles was the phrase “The 1980s”.

Why hello sexiest decade ever.

I stopped.

I looked.

I kinda smiled.

I kept going.

I stopped again.

I went back.

I picked it up.

I put it down.

I picked it up.

I put it in my cart.

I was made in the 80’s.

Who was I not to do this puzzle?!

1000 pieces. Enough to be a challenge while keeping me engaged. I already had a game plan for putting it together before I reached the checkout line. Start by putting together the phrase “The 1980s” and work out from there. Find the corners, separate the edges from the middles. A little MTV, a little JFK, some Maverick and yes, Mr. T… That A-Team tho!

Back at home, I got baby boy down for his nap and I unboxed the puzzle. I was giddy with excitement. Each piece I sorted through offered a little childhood nostalgia. I came across a Rubik’s Cube and put it off to the side. I found some Run-D.M.C. next and before I knew it the Rubik’s Cube and the Run-D.M.C. pieces fit together. After that came a Mac Computer and some Adidas Superstars (swoon). That was followed by Cheers, Blues Brothers, some Dirty Dancing,  a little Michael (both Jackson and Jordan) (double swoon) and of course Rocky…

It is here that I pause my writing to offer some wisdom. I urge you disconnect from the world and destress via a puzzle… Preferably one that reminds you of all the amazing things from your childhood. Just sitting and sorting the pieces thinking about zero things beyond the moment I was in. No phone calls, no emails, no texts pinging, no red notification badges or banners popping up to distract me. Just me and the 80’s and a trip down memory lane. I got all ZenAF with the puzzle. I think we had a moment.

As I was constructing this new puzzle, a thought occurred to me and my ego laughed at the irony. Sometimes in life we are sure of the path we are going to embark on. When I picked up that puzzle box, I knew exactly how I thought it was going to go. I had a plan in place to ensure my success. As soon as I opened the box, my plan became as jumbled as the thousand pieces that laid before me. Isn’t that just like life sometimes? As I sorted through them trying to make sense of the big picture, piece-by-piece little vignettes started fitting together to make the whole. It became clear to me as I nostalgically trekked through the 80’s that more times than not, our best laid plans are nothing like what actually happens in life. Sometimes they end up being just that- best laid plans. Something to pivot from, something to learn from, something to grow from.

Don’t have a cow though.

It’s not all grody-to-the-max.

Sometimes, it ends up totally rad and bad-to-the-bone.

I pity the fool who doesn’t agree. 😎