I’m about to let you into one of the deepest and darkest secrets of my life…
It’s ugly!
It’s embarrassing!
It will give you goose bumps!
You ready?
Here’s my secret…I enjoy…putting together…PUZZLES!!! (WAIT! You thought you were going to see me in some skinny jeans!? Wow!)
No, there it is!
Puzzles!
Inside this cool, calm, collected missionary is a 75 year-old woman that has spent more than his fair share of money buying puzzles at Walmart.
Ok, perhaps a bit of an exaggeration…I don’t ALWAYS get them from Walmart and the “cool” part tends to be more in my head than in real life.
But I did grow up doing puzzles…working puzzles…constructing puzzles…puzzling puzzles.
My mom is GREAT at puzzles.
She’s a puzzle genius and has all the secrets to placing the pieces in the right places. I guess it comes with experience.
My grandmother loved them too. My mom said that when she was growing up, my grandmother always had one in the works at the house and it’s one of my mothers strongest and fondest memories.
But somehow, I have yet to adopt this hobby into my own life.
[Because I'm not 75? Maybe.]
I would like to spend more time completing puzzles but when I have free time, I spend most of my time in front of my computer reading junk (scholarly material). And when it is time to relax, I like to avoid words, status updates, and my computer all-together.
While I love reading, there are lots of times when I just want to step away from the alphabet, and get lost in something that doesn’t require thinking.
Lately, I’ve been spending a cRaZy amount of time on facebook asking for additional donations so I can meet my financial deadlines.
I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed so puzzles have made a massive comeback in my life. And I’m realizing that it’s the PERFECT hobby for me.
Last week, I worked on a puzzle for four hours while I watched seven episodes of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
[My future wife will love the fact that I’m sharing about all my “coolness” over the internet.]
Here’s why I love puzzles:
1. Escape. You are able to lose yourself and escape from your today. I’ve watched a girl with heavy decisions on her mind put together an entire puzzle without saying anything.
2. Silence. It involves zero words.
3. Teamwork. Multiple people can contribute. TEAMWORK MAKE THE DREAM WORK BABY!
4. Challenge 1. It is mindless but REALLY challenging. 1000 pieces of forest landscape. Ouch!
5. Challenge 2. A normal person can walk away at any time and return later. [I have issues. I need to finish certain areas. Don’t judge.]
6. Challenge 3. You can do a puzzle again and again. I don’t know if I will [this one is about to make me or break me], but I like that you can.
7. You have a lifelong hobby. [I think this is my way of convincing the world that it’s cool for someone that is not 75 to enjoy puzzles?]
So, I guess this whole post is a confession that if you follow my mission trip on facebook you are probably going to see puzzles (and other things that make me cool) as they progress.
And now that I have adequately justified it, I am returning to finish my puzzle.This post wasn’t “super-spiritual,” but now that I have told you a little about myself, tell me about your favorite hobby (especially if it makes you cool)? I WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT YOU! Any more puzzle lovers out there?
(And yes, this is my mom completing our puzzle).
I
