Piece By Piece

Unique and never repeated is how the jigsaw puzzle is described on Amazon. Precision cuts, ensuring tight, interlocking pieces. That sounds about right, I suppose, as far as puzzles are concerned. The month of February felt heavy, cold, and grey. By far my least favorite month, apart from celebrating my eldest son’s birthday, it’s typically a blah month. “Winter is coming” is how I mentally psyche myself up (thanks to Game Of Thrones).  The three-year stint in Orlando crushed any chance of a relationship with cold weather. It’s been years since returning to Michigan, and I still dream of the sun and palm trees. My kitchen island, typically reserved as a conversation spot for all the ‘hoodies,’ sits vacant. My term of endearment for the many teenage boys that normally fill these seats, “I’ll have another serving Mrs. C, did you watch the game? It drops tonight.”

BUY NOW

The BUY NOW button appears on my Amazon account, and in one simple click, boom, done. Painless. Puzzle ordered. 

As promised, the puzzle arrives at my doorstep the next day. I dump the pieces on the kitchen island forming a small mountain; I regret the purchase immediately. The voice in my head commences, ‘hmm …this is a lot of pieces, this is going to require time, focus. Is it worth it? I can sweep it back in the bag, return it as quickly as it arrived. No one will know any different. Quit before I even start…’ I am literally listing all the reasons why this purchase was a terrible idea.

Pastor Steven Furtick pops in my head, his sermon about Legos. He was describing how easy it is to lose faith. In essence, we buy Legos’ for the promise of the awesome product on the box, but what we really get is pieces that require assembling. This mirrors life, the disconnect between the shiny photo on the box and reality. 

My attention returns to the small mountain on the counter. Was that what I was buying when I purchased this candy-themed puzzle. A false promise of sweetness and yumminess? Was I subconsciously buying a sweeter existence, one far away from these grey days? Instead, I got served hundreds of pieces. I guess I am no different. I am programmed and part of the BUY NOW culture. We expect everything in life-all the results to be delivered as quickly as Amazon Prime. We want a BUY NOW button for weight loss, personal development, new career, promotions, financial freedoms, you name it, we want immediate results. We don’t even have the patience to wait in line for 10 minutes; is it really that bad?

Well, that does it; I am not returning the puzzle. Furtick is right; life resembles a puzzle. The universe hands you a pile of pieces; the cuts are precise, in fact, all fit but finding the pair, well, that’s requires time, focus, and doing the mundane. Sometimes it requires taking a break, resetting, changing the lens, and trying again. For sure, the pieces are there…what is required is patience and trust in the journey.

What’s your music?

I wonder how many of us bail without even trying, giving up on the hard stuff when it is not delivered right to our door, fully assembled, ready to go. How many of us dismiss a dream, the tug in our heart, ooh I’d love to do that…if only, but, not the time, I am not…a million excuses of why you can’t do something.  How many times have you swept your dreams and buried them deep down in your soul, terrified to tackle the mountains? 

Don’t die with your music still in you. Don’t die with your purpose unfulfilled. Don’t die feeling as if your life has been wrong. Don’t let that happen to you. ~ Wayne Dyer

Are you playing your music? If you are not, and you had to play your music this instant, what would it sound like? Eliminate the But, I can’t, I don’t have, remove all the obstructing, dismissive self-talk and simply play your music…can you hear it? Do not allow yourself to live a life other than the one you were born to live. No matter how big or how small the dream, start playing your music.

Start

Is it hard? Maybe, possibly, hard to say, the truth is you won’t know until you try. It is as elementary as it sounds. Losing weight, launching a new business, changing career, financial security, whatever your thing is…you must start. I am not suggesting you quit the job you hate without a backup.  I am suggesting you start moving in the direction of your music. Figure out what you need to do to redirect your path. Have a plan and start doing. Here is the thing- doing nothing requires energy (disliking the people you work with, feeling uncomfortable with your weight, depressed by the amount of time spent sitting on the couch watching Netflix, etc.) So if doing nothing requires energy, why not transfer that energy into doing something.

I picked up tennis in my 40’s and fell in love after a few lessons. Even though a novice, within months, I found myself on a team. Naturally, my first tennis match was nerve-racking.  My partner, Jessica, had a bit more experience and gently encouraged me. Jess held my hand the entire match, directed my steps, including keeping score. She even told me when to switch sides (I was a total newbie). In hindsight, I had no business being there, but it was also the only way to learn. I had to start somewhere.  We lost the match, but I’ll never forget how Jess made me feel, the seeds she planted, progress, not perfection. Six years later, it still remains progress, not perfection. I am a much different player today. I recently started training with a team that is at a higher level. Boy, I get my butt kicked every week, but I always walk away thinking that was hard; I can’t wait to do it again. Shouldn’t we all strive for that mindset, one of growth, of purpose? To be better.  

Noteworthy is how the decision to start tennis has incrementally opened a whole new world for me; the compounding effect is tremendous. Thanks to tennis, I take much better care of my body; self-care is non-negotiable. Also, I continue to be part of some great teams and compete weekly, which has led me to connect with fabulous women. Some of my best friendships were born on the courts. These relationships have led me to put pen to paper and ultimately to this blog. No doubt, I am playing my music… it didn’t just happen… I had to start.

Also worth noting, Jess is not the same player either. She, too, is progressing. She is a mama now and has grown into the artist she was always meant to be. She began her journey designing meaningful pieces of jewelry. Recently she has evolved; she too is a storyteller, stirring emotions and evoking expression with her brushes.  She takes brush to canvas and inspires us to feel color. Her work is incredibly soulful and vibrant. Keep playing your music Jess…your strokes are brilliant.

Aww, look at their puzzle

Too often we marvel at the finished product and hone in on the completed puzzle. Look at them; their business is exploding. Did you see their new car? How many championship titles is that? Did you see their vacation home? Federer, Steve Jobs, Oprah, our boss, the neighbor, family members, Bezos… we focus intently on their Buy Now button- who they are today. Sure, their BUY NOW button is remarkable and deserving of accolades. But then again, isn’t the journey more impressive? That is where one discovers the heart of the story.  We don’t spend nearly enough time here celebrating the YEARS dedicated to building. The days that quitting was the easy answer, but instead, tenacity took the wheel.  We get caught up in wanting the BUY NOW button, but there are no shortcuts.  We need a mind shift, focus less on the BUY NOW, and if you insist on comparing yourself to anyone or anything, perhaps it should be to the guy who decided to start selling books in his garage. That is, you, that is me. That is doable, starting something that turns our music on, that is ‘Why not me? Yea, why not you?

Gather

My sister and brother n’ law (E&W) own a beautiful lake house. This is our gathering place—a place to connect, laugh, relax, and recharge. Holidays are filled with dancing, drinking, and lots of food. We are Latin, after all.

Most show up to the gathering place, grab a beer and a paddleboard. However, what most don’t quite appreciate is the depth of the lake house. This gathering place was built on love that grew in a field of weeds. It’s an intricate story of mending broken hearts, personal growth, and rebuilding careers from scratch.  To really know them is to know that their life (puzzle) is years in the making, piece by piece.  E&W have fought tooth and nail to merge, to get to a place in which they can anchor securely. Most only see a beautiful house, but it is so much more.

I gifted them a custom sign to commemorate the year the gathering place was established-2017. I purposely chose to etch an anchor on the sign. After years of enduring rough waters, E&W arrived at a place in which their love for each other is strong enough to weather any storm. They have not shielded from storms-quite the contrary- but their anchor is solid; they are home.

Piece by Piece- The Sweet Life

We tackled our puzzle and began with the edges. We focused on the foundation, our line of defense to build upon. Like our lives, some areas are absolute, unwilling to compromise, unwilling to bend. As we evolve, we can begin connecting the interior pieces. It’s not always a straightforward path; lines get blurred, some areas get difficult. We second guess and question if pieces are missing. But what we must not do, what we can never do, is quit. We have a life to build piece by piece. The description was accurate; each piece is unique and never repeated. The in-between pieces are intricate, difficult. Patience is required, but the pieces all connect. Facing a puzzle (life) is one of a growth mindset, of getting past the edge (surface) and discovering the meaning in the middle (purpose) 

We completed the puzzle and have moved on to another, a new mountain to conquer. The new one is harder than the first—the growth mindset in full effect.

How’s your puzzle? Are you giving up, packing it in? Or worse, have you not started? My hope is that you begin, that you get past the straight edges and tackle the in-betweens…

And then it happens, the pieces are all there, they were always there. All the pieces are within us, the music is within us, we have the power to turn it on, and we can turn it up. Play your music loudly, ‘Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.’