In 2019, I completed my first 500-piece puzzle that now hangs inside of my front door. A friend gave me a 1000-piece puzzle after that and I was intimidated by it, but I told myself I would solve it once the time was right. At the beginning of this year when I was going through a work transition, I decided that now was the time.  I bought a puzzle solver, sat on the floor on February 5th, and poured all 1000 pieces out. It took me over 3 months to complete and I learned countless lessons along the way that I would like to share with you!

1. You might need to change your strategy: Since the pieces were so small, and the colors were very similar, I had to focus on the images that I could identify and build from there. Once I had completed those images, I moved on to building out the border pieces. My strategy changed as the puzzle became clearer reminding me that sometimes you must pivot to reach your end goal.
2. You can have all the pieces and still not see the final picture: This is a hard lesson for me, because I am impatient. I like to know where I am going and how I am getting there. But that’s not life nor will it help in solving a puzzle. Even though I had all the pieces, I could not see where they fit until I started. And I could not see the final picture until I was done.  As I kept solving the puzzle, it was exhilarating when a piece fit perfectly, and the picture became clearer.

3. Some days are harder than others: Every time I sat down to work on the puzzle. I would not leave until I had added at least one piece. Sometimes I would be able to solve a corner and other days I would add maybe 1 or 2 pieces. But both types of days were a success.

4. Slow progress is still progress: I don’t think I worked on the puzzle for most of April. I had reached the point where I could not see how the pieces fit and needed to take a step back, so I did. There were some days as I looked at the uncompleted puzzle on the floor and felt anxious but knew that I would return when I was ready. Crawling is still movement, even if it’s slow.

5. You might begin to feel crazy: There were days when I would try the same piece in the same place, and it would not work. Then I would try it again and it would work, even though nothing had changed. I felt crazy, but I was reminded that building anything will feel like that. Sometimes the pieces will fit and sometimes they won’t.  The only way to find out is to keep trying.

6. Sometimes you will know exactly where a piece fits: As I kept solving the puzzle, I could look at a piece or a space and know exactly what would fit there. It was amazing and encouraged me to continue. The more you do something, the easier it gets. It’s being consistent that is the problem.

7. I learned to become comfortable with space: As I was solving the puzzle, I realized that I am uncomfortable with empty space. I think we all are. We try to fill any space in our lives with whatever we think will fill the void. But all space isn’t bad. It allows us the ability to move freely and let the space be filled naturally. Space doesn’t always mean empty. It can also mean vast.

8. The hardest part is when you are close to finishing: As I was getting closer and closer to solving the puzzle, it felt like it got harder. I could not wait until the last piece was solved. It was all I wanted to do. When you are so close to seeing the final picture, it can feel as though there are even more obstacles in your way, but the truth is you are almost there. You just need to keep going.

I can honestly say that the best part of solving this puzzle was the journey. Every time I look at the puzzle hanging in my living room, I am reminded of these lessons and the ways that I grew during this time. If you’re looking for a non-electronic past-time, I would suggest solving a jigsaw puzzle, who knows what lessons you’ll discover along the way!