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Writer's pictureMike and Glenn

Puzzled – in a good way

Life is not a puzzle box. We are not privy to a view of the final product. More often than not, we get overwhelmed with the scrambled pieces that scream organization, coordination, and execution. Where to start—with the frame or smaller sections? Where can we best put this image together—where is it safe from damage? When do we attack its challenge—are we ready physically, spiritually, and mentally?


One thing we know for sure is that we don’t have this whole thing figured out. What we know for sure is that we are certain of little and that yesterday brought more questions than answers. Many scenarios we face daily dumbfound us. Uncertainties, big and small, pepper our path to peace, causing us to momentarily cease our stride toward progress.


This is all okay with us as we now know that this is not a personal defect but a human condition that affects everybody. Nobody has it all figured out. For it is in these moments of uncertainty that we learn, and learning is, as they say, the essence of growth.


We look at our life experience like a dialectologist attacks a puzzle. We hold specific decisions in our hands and try to see how they fit into the whole picture. We now have an idea of what we want the final picture to be. We know that some of the pieces we possess don’t work for the outcome we desire.


We choose to work the edges first. The clear lines stand out, like our character assets. The lighting needs to be right, and our outlook healthy. There is no point in this creation if not for the joy of the build. We find clusters of properties and patterns emerge by sorting out the options. We remind ourselves that puzzles don’t come with timers. We don’t race to complete, risking missing the experience.


We are grateful to return to the table daily and look to construct. The alternative is to let the fragments lay, collecting dust while never producing the fulfillment factor that fuels our progress.


Though boxed puzzles are static and one-dimensional, life is dynamic and multi-dimensional. The environment, shapes, quantities, and qualities change with each breath. We let that overwhelm us in the past but have come to appreciate it in the present. We are up to the challenge of a million-piece masterpiece.


We respect that this process will never end for us. Our picture will be fluid up to our last breath. When we die, we will have left a lid, a synopsis of who and what we touched throughout our lives. We hope the important things will have been completed before our memorial.


As we don’t know our last minute, we build. We build for ourselves and for those we love. It is not in the grandness but in the granularity that we will be remembered. It is not in the detail but in the final impression. Sure, there will be pieces that may never be appropriately placed, it is those pieces we have in our hands today.


Confusion used to rein our brains, but today, we are puzzled – in a good way.



 

Thoughts and ideas for this blog post were taken and built upon from a sober.coffee bonus podcast #67 titled "Full Tank/Recovery Rhythms with Tommy Carreras" The podcast dropped on 7/6/2022. Click here to hear the podcast.


Photo by Hans-Peter Gauster on Unsplash


BLOG DISCLAIMER:

Alcoholics Anonymous and AA are registered trademarks of Alcoholics World Service. Inc. References to AA, the 12 steps, and 12 traditions does not mean that AA has reviewed or approved the contents of this publication nor that AA agrees with the views expressed herein. This publication is intended to support personal growth and should not be considered a substitute for healthcare professionals' advice. The author’s advice and viewpoints are their own.


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