Did you ever notice that we treat life like a puzzle, something that needs to be figured out? The figuring always gets in the way of living.

Each time we stop and try to make sense of our life, life continues to move on. Even if we solve a little piece of it, we have to play catch up with our life that keeps unfolding.

You just can’t capture life in a jar and preserve it. That’s not living; that’s mental taxidermy.

When you live your life in your head, you are always solving puzzles. It’s like standing at the bus stop being so engrossed in the crossword puzzle that you neglect to get on board and the bus leaves without you.

The thinking of the puzzle solver goes something like this: “If I get this one piece in place, my life will be perfect.” Maybe the picture of your life that you put in a display case will be perfect, but that snapshot has nothing to do with the life that’s going on now.

The stockbroker’s disclaimer of “Past performance does not guarantee future results” is the bind the puzzle solver finds themselves in. They assemble puzzle pieces that are outdated and can only produce a picture of the way it was rather than the way it is.

Life is a reality ride. You never know where the next turn is coming. That’s why the Space Mountain roller coaster ride at Disney World is so exciting. It’s done in the dark. You can’t see the next twist or loop.

If you stop to try and figure it out, you miss the thrill the ride has to offer.

Figuring out life is a dull existence. It leaves us perplexed and takes its toll.

Life is like infinity; no matter how hard you try, you’re never going to figure it out.

Stop The World I Want To Get Off is the mantra of the puzzle solver. “Just give me a little more time and I’ll figure it out” is the false premise they live their life by. Did you ever notice the thing about life you were trying to figure out way back then is the same thing you are still working on now?

Life is making the most of the dash - the dash on the tombstone between the day you were born and the day you die.

The more time you spend figuring life out, the less time you spend enjoying life. Both life and awareness are gifts. Use them. Become aware of the moment you are in and live life while it’s happening. The joy in life comes from living not re-solving.

 

All the best,

John