Life is a puzzle. Sometimes we have all the pieces and everything makes sense. Other times we have lost a piece (or 20) and they’re nearly impossible to find.
Some days I have it all together. My hair is washed, blown dry, and curled. My makeup feels nearly perfect and my clothing feels like it came straight out of a magazine. I feel extremely optimistic and I’ve accomplished everything necessary for the day.
Other days (most days), my hair is greasy and hidden under a hat, my makeup is rubbing off from running around, and my clothing looks like I may have picked up the closest shirt and pants I could find from my local thrift store. I feel like I’m lost and I have no idea what I’ve been doing for the last 20 years of my life.
On days where I feel like everything is out of place it would be SO convenient if God could just send me a quick text or email and tell me what to do next. I’ve had some pretty good days, but even then God has never asked for an email address or phone number.
I came up with this analogy the other day with a patient at work– Life is like a puzzle. We have easy, toddler puzzles and difficult, adult puzzles. Sometimes not knowing all the answers and missing a couple pieces can be easy if they’re from a toddler puzzle. We can brush it off and move on because we will survive without that answer; it’s no big deal, right? Other times we don’t know the answer and it’s a HUGE deal because it’s the 1000th piece of a Thomas Kinkade puzzle. We tear out all the couch cushions, pick up everything off the floor, and ask people to move around to find those pieces.
When it’s a crazy-hard adult puzzle we need to take the time to focus and do what we need in order to solve the missing piece– whether that’s going to church, talking to a good friend, or writing feelings out in a journal. Sometimes we try too hard to find every missing piece to each puzzle we have when truthfully, a lot of those missing pieces come from toddler puzzles and are not necessary.
Focus on those important puzzles and I think we will be able to rid ourselves of a lot of distraction, frustration, and stress. That’s my goal for this week. Who’s with me?
Makeup: Danielle Estrada Makeup
Photos: By Braadyn
Sweater: Free People
Build Your Beautiful 