I love puzzles — any sort of games really — something that gets the mind working in overdrive to keep it from growing bored or stagnant. I love learning new things, who knows when it will come in handy at trivia night.
The puzzles I really enjoy are of the jigsaw variety. The ones that take hours, days, sometimes weeks to get the finished product. I still enjoy breaking out a 1,000 piece puzzle to get my brain working in order to get the pieces to come together. I even have an app on my iPad that allows me to put together digital puzzles on the go.
I picked up this habit at an early age. Both of my grandmas would work on puzzles, and I would help. I even had my “kid sized” puzzles to complete on my own or with my brother and sister. As I got older, the difficulty grew; and I got better at studying each piece to find where it fits in the whole piece.
I feel like that is how people operate in this world. We are a jigsaw piece trying to find where we belong. We don’t really need to conform our shapes to fit in, then the finished product will never look right when it’s done.
In the new year, take a moment to think about how you fit into your surroundings. If you can see the whole picture and like what you see, that’s perfect.
If not, make a resolution and change it. Don’t force things to work, and don’t be afraid of breaking free of what you have been doing for years. These don’t have to be drastic changes, and it doesn’t mean you’ve been doing things completely wrong your whole life.
I have struggled with my weight since I can remember. I have always been a “bigger girl.” This was an asset in the sports I played, giving me the strength and girth I needed to play at a higher level.
However, I hated my self-image and never liked to talk about it. From second grade through college, I was involved in some sort of sporting activity. Even before my college graduation, I felt myself getting tired of the daily routine of school, practice and rest. When I entered the workforce, I fell out of practice with my routine and got to a place where I wasn’t happy.
Last fall and winter, I looked at myself and decided I didn’t like how I fit in my own world. I started a workout plan and changed my diet habits and lost 30 pounds. I’m no model and still have more work to do, but I feel better about myself. I never believed self-motivation was enough, but it was.
I still have good days and bad days, but I am still so happy I finally was able to find a way that worked for me and to find a better fit in life’s jigsaw puzzle.
I don’t put puzzles together nearly as often now as I did, but every once in awhile my family will work together on a large puzzle. Instead of putting them away in its box when completed, we frame them to hold onto the memory for a long time.
One of my favorites is one that is missing one of the edge pieces. It used to drive me nuts; but when I really thought about it, all it meant was the work was never complete. As strange as it sounds, it has become a symbol that the work is never done and there is always a piece left to be added to the puzzle.
Don’t be afraid to keep changing your fit. You just might find where and how you belong.
Contact Pam Rodgers at prodgers@newtondailynews.com