Musings from the Ozone

The ' last piece of the puzzle'…..  You may have thought I would say the last piece of the pie, or the last piece of cake or the last piece of meat on the plate.  What does the "last piece" mean?  We are never really eating the last piece of cake, because there is probably  another cake mix in the pantry.  There is always more meat, more pie, etc.  Still, the "last piece" has a special connotation to the term.  When it comes to the last piece of a puzzle, we are really speaking of a particular puzzle  that has been 'completed.'   We complete that puzzle…even though there may be more puzzles to solve.  We have the last piece of a cake, because that particular cake has been eaten.  There are 'final' days, final plans that have come to completion, and the sense of 'finality' really does occur;  contrary to the fact that we are also experiencing continuity in our lives.

Lately, I have been absorbed in working puzzles on my laptop.  I had been doing a cheap version of puzzles on the Facebook application, but they were small, short and finished quickly.  After working out most of them, getting rather tired of dog puzzles and the like, I decided to invest a little money in a puzzle program for my laptop computer.  It was amazing!  Suddenly, there were hundreds of interesting puzzles; artwork, scenery and very colorful paintings and photographs.  The program even allowed me to use my own pictures, in order to create new puzzles!  This would be a fun hobby, something to do while  waiting in airports, on the airplane,  or at any time that I had to sit around and wait.  As much as I love puzzles, I didn't want to go back to the old days of spreading a big one out on the table, and leaving it there until it was completed.  The days of 1000 piece puzzles were reserved for large families who helped each other to  complete the thing

While having fun working on a puzzle, It came to me that I did not enjoy the 'finishing up' of a puzzle!   Looking at a finished puzzle was no more thrilling than looking at a picture of corn flakes.  I didn't like the feeling of coming to an end of a puzzle, although it went faster and faster towards the finish line.   There is sort of a mixed emotion when I put in that 'last piece.'  The puzzle  was my friend for a few hours, but now it is finished, and done with.  It is put out of sight and out of mind after that last piece.   There is just no sense in sitting around and thinking about finished puzzles….there were some that were outstanding puzzles, but the real thrill is in attacking another puzzle with the vengeance of a General Napoleon!

So is life.  Many are the writers and poets that have referred to life as a puzzle.  To the amateur, a puzzle is frustrating: "How should I begin? What is the most constructive way to make sense of this puzzle?"  How long will this puzzle take to complete?  How long should I sit working on such a difficult task?   To this very day, I remember my father and my mother spreading out a huge puzzle on a card table in the living room, and my father said to,  "First, place all the colors of the sky together.  Start with the top border, the side pieces and then the bottom pieces before you tackle the rest of the puzzle.  After that frame work was up, it would be a great help to not only know the dimensions you are working with, but where the basic colors would be in the puzzle."  Such good advice about a puzzle can be applied to our lives as well.

When I first  open a puzzle, see the pieces all strewn around the desktop screen, there is a tiny bit of doubt that crosses my mind; how much time will this puzzle take to complete?  Other fleeting thoughts come to my mind; is this puzzle of a monotone color, (takes longer to complete) or is this puzzle very colorful, as that will make it more interesting to me.  Is the subject of the puzzle one of beauty, or just a silly looking puzzle?  You see, many puzzles in my computer collection are of old tires, mummies, boots and hats, and of other equally dull subjects.   I  first  worked on  many of the beautiful puzzles of lakes, beautiful buildings, sunlit streams, beautiful  still life and even colorful animals before I went back to work on the duller puzzles.  In real life, there are many boring days and boring jobs. It is not all beautiful and pleasant scenes.  It is not all about relaxation and peaceful pursuits.    I grew so weary of the diaper stage of my four children.  But, then,  there were  exciting times when I would see rapid changes taking place in their young lives.  The first step…..the first real words…..the first tooth….all  these milestones have to take place before they will reach maturity.

One has to start somewhere on that big puzzle--it is scattered all over, and has to be arranged in a way that makes sense for the hunt to begin.  Life is more than a gigantic puzzle, but the puzzle of 'life' could be easier to deal with if some basic foundations and habits are put in place, as are the borders of a puzzle,  long before the actual difficulties of life begin to be felt.  A young person should not look at the structures  or borders of his life, such as a spirit-filled life, honesty, a good character, good hygiene, good study habits, education, good manners, good healthy eating and such, as being ' painful.'  These bedrock values can be difficult to accomplish early in life, but these good and excellent structures, when practiced and applied daily,  will become a strong and dependable foundations on which to  build a beautiful life.

When we start our 'puzzle of life,' we are blessed if we have good parents to help us form good habits early in life, but when we come to the 'last piece' of the puzzle of life, whether it be the end of our child rearing years, our last child gets married, our last child finishes college, the end of a job and then retirement,  the last dinner with a mate before he or she dies, or what ever 'last' thing comes along, we can put that finishing touch on a puzzle in life, having great assurance that we stuck with the task at hand, until a great achievement was reached!   When I wrote my book, I felt a great thrill when I finished the last chapter, knowing that I had accomplished the goal I had set for myself.   When I recieved my master's degree from college, I felt a real sense of accomplishment, knowing the sacrifices I had made to get that piece of paper!  Other people will enjoy looking at our lives as the 'finished puzzle" or the 'whole product.'   We may never get to that place where we feel we have finished the puzzle;  but there will be many little 'finished' products along life's way!  Try to enjoy yourself when you place that 'last piece' of each of your projects! Imagine that you are placing the 'last piece' on one gigantic puzzle!