JIGSAWS

 Until Covid I never ever did a jigsaw puzzle. Had enough trouble putting together the pieces of the kids' puzzles! But somehow, some time, they crept into my life. I began to kibbitz with my kids when they were working on one and finally attempted one on my own. A 100-piece kids puzzle which took me long enough! Gradually, I moved on and am now doing 300 pieces as a relaxer, 500-piece puzzles to both challenge and enjoy, most times successful, and every once in a while, I take on a 1,000 piece - usually when I am ready to lose my mind! Of course, I take my time, leave the puzzle on its special table until finished - promptly clean it up and go on to the next.

This morning I began to muse how life is similar to a jigsaw. There are times we run through the 100 pieces, quickly, smoothly, and life is great. We congratulate ourselves on our terrific planning, luck, efforts and then we move on and up. We take on larger burdens, bigger more complicated planning necessary and for the first time begin to struggle to mesh the pieces together. Some fit smoothly; others appear to fit in one spot, but try as we might, nothing doing. Oh, we can bang on it, smash it into obedience, but then the whole puzzle is off. So we have to wait, rethink, adjust, sift through the remaining pieces even as try to find the proper place for this errant puzzle piece. Hopefully, the error does not have long standing consequences, but we must do as we must if we are to complete the puzzle. 

Then the larger puzzles come into play and that is difficult. Some are attractive, appeal to one person while another appeals to someone else. Personally, I like the ones with books, people, reminiscences of the past, puzzles which have color, pattern and satisfaction when complete. They make sense, without reducing the complete puzzle to almost insanely difficult pieces to pick up, decipher and fit in. Hard work, a sense of accomplishment when done and a willingness to move on, perhaps advance.

When I think of it, this is how I like to live my life. Always an order, always a pattern, but always room to adjust, take on a larger more difficult "puzzle of life". If unsuccessful, I wait a while and then try again. Trying to move on, to move up, is stressful and there are times it was necessary to leave that puzzle on its table, awaiting the proper time until ready to approach and reach a satisfactory conclusion.

It is not always easy to mesh the time, the difficulty, the patterns, the pieces. At times there is great resistance and the temptation to throw the pieces back in the box is overwhelming, but nope, we must keep on if we are to ever settle and complete our individual puzzles before time is up and if we are to aid in completing the puzzle of the world in a proper manner, finding the correct piece, even if it takes a bit more time and a lot more effort. The results can then be wonderful.

These wonderful results, or the opening of a road to the result, to the proper completion, the correct sequence, finishing the edge and filling in the center works better with two heads and is a lot more fun. So once again, together works.

At this point I put in my usual ending, thanking all of you for allowing us to hear some good news of progress, of enough strength for Yitzy to participate in some activities.

Please keep on.

Together - Together we can achieve it all. 

Together we can

HEAL THE WORLD.

HEAL YITZY!

Yitzchak Elimelech ben Chana Sarah

May he be granted refuah shelaymah bimheyrah beyameinu. 

May he be granted a timely and complete healing.

May he always remain on the road of faith, healing and strength.

May we all walk on that same road.

May Hashem hear all our voices raised in prayer. 

Amen. Amen.