This Is Me--2024 A to Z Theme

My A to Z Themes in the past have covered a range of topics and for 2024 the theme is a personal retrospective that I call "I Coulda Been" which is in reference to my job and career arc over my lifetime. I'll be looking at all sorts of occupations that I have done or could have done. Maybe you've done some of these too!

Friday, June 10, 2011

PUZZLE

       Thousands of the irregular pieces were piled before him on the kitchen table.  The project he faced was indefinable in scope.   Perplexed, he initially only looked over the intricately cut fragments that would eventually be assembled into one complete picture.  Then he began the challenge of putting it all together.

       His first step was to turn over all of the pieces to the picture side.  He realized that the job was going to be much more difficult that expected.  Most of the pieces were of the same sky blue color, a few with wisps of white, and many were colored with red.

       Separating the straight-edged pieces first, he worked on the frame. Minutes passed, then hours, then days.  He sorted and fit pieces together in every available waking hour.   Since his table was now covered, he took his meals in the living room while watching television.  When he was not at work or wherever else he might have had to be, he was hunched over the table maneuvering and strategizing with the jigsawed pieces.  He was consumed with his task.

        Weeks went by, and then the weeks were months and the months, years.  Eventually the frame was finished and the picture began to fill in gradually.  As the picture became more complete the pieces fell into place more easily.  The process of assembly became more rapid until the last piece was set.

        When he was finished, he saw the mostly blue background--a sky with occasional clouds--and set against it was were red letters that read "MY LIFE".  He could now clearly see what he had been piecing together, but it was still a puzzle.



xxxxx

48 comments:

  1. the problem with the puzzle of life is that Someone keeps throwing more pieces on the table.

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  2. I agree with the comment above, life has a habit of throwing more pieces in.

    Have a nice day Lee.

    Yvonne.

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  3. Life does very much seem like a puzzle at times. A story with a message!

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  4. Or, as in my case putting together a puzzle just to find out it's missing 3 pieces. It's then you decide to enjoy the picture and look past the holes. An imperfect puzzle (life)is more interesting. And it doesn't really matter, it was the effort and the finish that matters.

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  5. Hi Lee ... love the story .. and everyone's comments .. the story of life is a puzzling journey for sure ..

    Enjoy the puzzle free weekend .. Hilary

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  6. I'm going to ditto the first comment. Wonder how one can change the color of said pieces??

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  7. Beautiful story, and I agree with the first comment as well.

    Have a wonderful weekend!

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  8. Great story Lee!! I think my puzzle is missing a few pieces but good news; I kept the receipt. :)
    Jules @ Trying To Get Over The Rainbow

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  9. Yes, my puzzle always seems to be missing one piece, too. :P

    Nice post. I love a good metaphor.

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  10. Every time I think I put together the puzzle of my life I figure I'm doing the wrong side and have to slip it over and begin again.

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  11. Thanks for the comments. After all is said and done the puzzle picture is the story of our life and it is complete in its finality. While we are living it does seem like pieces may be missing or extraneous, but when it's all over the picture of life is there even though everyone may not understand the story.

    Lee

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  12. How cool! I was curious where it was going and then when he read, "my life," I thought how cool and so true. What a crazy hard puzzle that is!

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  13. Great analogy! Life is contrary and puzzling but sometimes bits fit together to make sense for a while.
    I was quite sure you were going to reach the last gap and find you were one piece short.

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  14. That's a puzzle we want to work on for a very long time.

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  15. Very nicely done, Lee. It reminds me of those movies (can't think of one right now of course) where the camera starts to slowly move back and the viewer suddenly sees an entirely different and complete scene - and "gets" it. (Not well put, but maybe you know what I mean.)

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  16. I like this. I say Life adds a new piece for us to figure out where to place everyday.

    BTW...thank you for following me and i see no evidence either. I have the followers box which did not show up yesterday although now it is. I followed myself and it showed up now. Probably some kind of blog communication technical oops!
    You will be my first...Yay! :)

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  17. Yeah, either someone throws more pieces on the table, or they take a piece or two away, and you're left forever trying to fill the holes with mashed up, distorted pieces from other puzzles...

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  18. Good story, Lee. I think I will share it with my husband. He's a pastor and is always looking for good stories like this. Thanks!

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  19. Very nicely done. I have to say I think mine would have some rainclouds and a rainbow too, kind of balancing out the blue.

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  20. Ah, the puzzle of life! It's a tricky one :)

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  21. Thanks again for your comments.

    Carrie -- So good to see you here. It's been a long time.

    Li -- Yes, I think I understand what you're saying. I have seen camera shots like that.

    Ms Leyla -- Thanks for making this among your earliest blogs to follow. Good luck with your blogging.

    Lee

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  22. Hey Lee,

    Your story reminds me of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy where people go to great lengths to find the answer to life, the universe and everything which turns out to be 42. And then they realise they never knew what the question was.

    regards
    mood

    p.s. you mentioned being curious about the first chapter of Harry Potter, you can find it online here: HP

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  23. Excellent puzzle, Arlee. For the longest while I was stuck trying to cram the most misshaped piece into my puzzle. Then I chucked that one out the window and started anew, and haven't looked back since!

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  24. I love puzzles .. and life ... even when it is a puzzle! :)

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  25. Wonderful story with an excellent surprise ending! It really makes you think outside the box! I envisioned Rod Serling narrating this one. Julie

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  26. I love to do jigsaw puzzles because,unlike life, they have a finite number of pieces, a clearly defined edge, and only one correct solution. In life, ifigure you are born nd get given a million piece puzzle. The first few years consist of figuring out what a puzzle is, while pepople continue to give you more pieces. About the age of 15, you realize that not all of these pieces belong to YOUR puzzle. You throw away handfuls of pieces. in your 20s you start to get anidea what the picture is, and you realize you threw away pieces that you need. Sometimes you can get them back. In your 30s you focus on significent elements. You assemble the happy family or the successfuk career, or maybe you recut or paint over pieces to make them fit the way you want. In your 40s, the body pieces start to disintegrate, and if that was the center of your picture(pretty woman, pro athlete) then you have to scramble to find another center. Kids grow up an take their pieces of the puzzle away. Spouses and friends leave, die, change. Your puzzle is constantly changing. I'm 61 and can hardly wait to see what part of the puzzle I'll be working on today.

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  27. Oh that is such a great ending! Loved it. :O)

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  28. More thanks!

    Mood -- Appreciate the link. Looks like an interesting site. I will check out the chapter to see what you were talking about.

    Jeffrey -- I think most of us reinvent ourselves throughout our lives. It's part of growth.

    Roxie -- I know what you're saying. I think your version is Puzzle the full length book.

    Lee

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  29. I liked that. I'm usually the one who ends up with missing pieces that you find under the couch weeks later. More often than not I just want to give up, rip it apart and put it back into the box.

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  30. Loved this, Lee! Great piece of writing. And yes, life is certainly like a puzzle!

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  31. OH WOW, Lee. LOVE this :) Life is a GRAND puzzle and one I am quite enjoying piecing together :)

    I've given you an award on my blog today :) SWEET!

    Cheers,
    San

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  32. I love how you liken putting together a puzzle the same way we need to take care placing the pieces of our lives together to see the full picture. Sometimes it's not clear in the middle of it.

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  33. beautifully written piece the problem with life is that it's always a work in progress

    Everyday Life

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  34. That. Was. Cool.

    Thanks, Lee!

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  35. I think my puzzle is still missing a few pieces. But maybe I just haven't dropped them all in yet. Great bit of writing. :)

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  36. Hello Uncle Lee!
    I posted on my blog earlier saying thatI'm going to have a small challenge starting Wednesday. I just need a challenge, so thats why I'm doing this. Please go over my blog :http://wsrstephanie.blogspot.com/
    and that will show you the rules and everything. Also, can you help me spread the word a bit? That would be great:)

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  37. Great post Lee. I think some joker put a few extra pieces in my box and they don't fit...

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  38. I appreciate all of the comments on my short "story".

    Lee

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  39. Wow. Deep! From reading all the comments I'm beginning to see just how many different "puzzle" analogies we can make of our lives!

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  40. Clever ending! Not a bad life with only a few wisps of clouds adorning a blue sky. Of course, the letters were red... There's much that could be read into that one. :-) Blessings!

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  41. Liked the underlying message - a brighter future once the mysteries in your life are clearly seen and tackled. I like this short piece. Lucky he wasn't missing a puzzle piece!!!

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  42. Too true. Its sometimes hard to see the individual pieces of our lives until we step back. Once we see the pieces though the trick is getting them all to fit.

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  43. Very clever story Lee! It reminded me of a time when I sat glued over a puzzle of "mixed nuts." When I finished, I wondered why I had devoted so much time to it! :)

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  44. Thank you for all of your additional comments. At the end of one's life there are no missing pieces. The puzzle is complete with what you have on the table.

    Lee

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  45. I've always used the analogy of a puzzle to describe my life, interesting. I always think of times when life isn't going quite how you'd hoped and compare it to finding a piece of the puzzle and thinking it fits into a certain place, only to find the real piece later and when you fit it in, everything around it comes together and becomes more clear. (hope that made sense)
    I love that it unfolds slowly over time....beautiful!
    Have a lovely day! :)

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  46. Ooh, very well done! I loved this!

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Lee