When it comes to jigsaw puzzles, some of the more experienced players like to start with the corners to help set the perimeter. They strategically work their way inwards, carefully laying out the boundaries first before they attempt to reassemble the missing pieces in the middle. It makes perfect sense doesn’t it? Except what do you do when you can’t seem to find those guiding pieces, when you have no idea just where your borders lie?
Well, I guess it’s very much like walking in the dark. You stretch your arms as far out as humanly possible without dislocating your limbs; you take small, slow, baby steps into the pitch black nothingness, and pray that you don’t ram your face into the wall or whatever obstruction that lies ahead too many times before your eyes start to adjust in the dark. The point is, you push through, you try, you learn from your bruises, you redirect and you adapt. You take whatever pieces you can find and work with those first.
I’m far from completing my jigsaw puzzle. I’ve yet to find those border pieces that outline the perimeter of my new journey, and as a result, the task of plugging myself into this new life seem so colossal that it often overwhelms me. But when you’re stumped by some crazy 3000-piece puzzle, when you seem to be going in circles in the dark, instead of huffing and puffing and pouting and whining, it’s never a bad idea to take a step back and give yourself some credit for how far you’ve come. Celebrate your small wins (Thank you, Dan Gruber.). They give you clarity and better yet, assurance that you are making progress, and slowly but surely, you will find your way.
I have officially hit my one-month milestone today (3/14). The light at the end of the tunnel is still nowhere to be seen, yet loose ends lie everywhere as far as the eye can see. My puzzle is still a hectic entanglement of obscurity. And that is precisely why I’d like to pause, and just celebrate my small victories, however insignificant and puny they may seem, they have sustained me thus far and will continue to fuel me as I stagger my way down the meandering darkness ahead.
In the past five weeks, I have:
1. Unleashed my mad driving skills that I never was allowed to explore back home and am now rampaging the Minnesotan freeways and surviving every trip with zero casualties and/or road-kills.
2. Found and rented a spacious suburban apartment well within my price range and commute distance (a.k.a. my budgeted monthly gas expenses).
3. Found and leased a brand new car even after major complications involving questionable alien status and a non-existent credit score, all of which have since been dismissed because they are completely unwarranted paranoia conjured up for no good reason except to really annoy people.
4. Passed the knowledge and road tests in one day and will be receiving my Minnesotan driver’s license in the near future.
5. Filled, or rather overfilled, my gas tank for the very first time without blowing up my car or the gas station or both.
6. Made back-to-back-to-back-to-back big purchase decisions within a super short timeframe.
7. Potentially found a mentor(s?) at work
8. Had three free lunches in my first week at work (score!).
9. Impressed my manager with my interest (?)/willingness in building flowcharts.
10. Demonstrated my mad adding/multiplication skills in a meeting and saved the marketing manager from okay-ing something he can’t possibly afford.
Here’s to making it through another week. I may not have the right pieces to layout my perimeter and that makes completing my puzzle that much harder. But I can work my way outwards with what I do have. My journey has no boundaries; my future is infinite with possibilities. That, is worth celebrating.
留言列表
