Life is a puzzle made up of thousands of different pieces.
Some pieces look like love. Love pieces are those relationships we form with people who become like family to us– those people we couldn’t imagine life without. Love pieces are also middle school crushes and high school flings– those things that taught us what love is not. Love pieces are experiences you’ll never forget, songs you’ll always know every word of, and places you’ll always know every corner of.
Some pieces reek of loss. Loss pieces are made when you really thought he was the one, but he didn’t seem to agree. They’re made when you realize you saw dad for the last time. They’re made when the news you just heard brings you to your knees. They’re made when you wonder how life could ever be the same without that job, place, relationship, ability, or person. The loss pieces are the ones that hurt to click into place.
Some pieces are characterized by change. Change pieces come into the picture when your sister moves away. They come when your car breaks down a state away from home. They come when you get promoted, and when you get demoted. They come when you go away to school, and when you graduate. Change pieces look like you were accidentally given a piece of someone else’s puzzle.
Some pieces seem pointless. Pointless pieces are the days you spend sick in bed. They’re the awkward conversation you just had with your roommate’s boyfriend’s lab partner. They’re the time you forgot to separate your whites and your colors, and the time that cute girl turned you down. Pointless pieces are the ones that are nothing by themselves, but flesh out the puzzle when it’s all put together.
Life is a puzzle. The trick is, we have no idea what it’s going to look like. The love pieces give our puzzle color, the loss pieces are hard to fit into place, the change pieces shed a new light on all the pieces put in place before it, and the pointless pieces seem dispensable.
It’s important to remember that a puzzle is only complete if it has all the pieces. The loss makes us strong. The love carries us through the change. The “pointless” times give us character. When life is hard, remember these days are just a piece of the puzzle. When life is glorious, remember these days hold the whole puzzle together. You might not know exactly what you’re becoming, but we put puzzles together for the joy of problem solving, not necessarily to see the picture at the end.