Stuck in that place where your life is like a 1,000+ piece puzzle and you just don’t know how to solve it? As a Reconstructionist™, I’m often consumed with how to put things together to solve this puzzle of rebuilding life after a breast cancer diagnosis, a life threatening illness, a life changing or catastrophic event.
My daughter loves puzzles and my late mother loved puzzles. I’ve seen each spend hours or just a few minutes to quickly solve a puzzle depending on the type, the color variations, and the sizes and shapes of the pieces. There are so many ways to solve a puzzle. I remember my mother would start by picking out all of the corner and outer pieces (any with a straight edge). She would build the entire frame first and then methodically complete the inner pieces. My daughter will sometimes dump everything out and first work on pieces that have similar colors and graphics. She will put together groupings of pieces at a time and then put those groups of pieces together to solve the puzzle and see the Big Picture.
Throughout my life, I’ve seen my late mother and, now, my daughter solve many puzzles; each with her own method and timing. I’ve been guilty of feeling overwhelmed by the puzzle pieces of this “new normal” and being like an ostrich with my head in the sand. But, I’ve learned that your head doesn’t need to be in the sand. There are multiple ways to solve the puzzle, some fast and easy and some more lengthy and difficult. But, solving the puzzle starts when you open the box and dump out all of the pieces and begin to see things take shape.
Think about how you will you get started working on your puzzle right now!
Melanie A. Nix – Triple negative breast cancer survivor. Resilience Coach, Reconstructionist™ and Health and Wellness Advocate. Always striving to color outside of the lines when defining my new normal.