Perseverance Learned From A 350-Piece Sushi Puzzle


There are many, many people out there who love to put puzzles together. Unfortunately, I am not one of them. When I was very little, I would memorize where the pieces of a puzzle went and would assemble them in order. That's how much I don't enjoy doing them. But I saw this sushi (one of my favorite things) puzzle (not one of my favorite things) at the store, and I had to try it.


Problem #1 - the edge pieces are almost entirely black. As soon as I saw that, I almost put the pieces back in the box so I could go read a book. Solution #1 - separate the inside pieces by color and go from there. Victory #1! I'm no quitter.


Problem #2 - The whole process was slow-going because there are multiples of one sushi roll in the picture. Just because I had all the rice pieces together didn't mean they were all part of the same section. Yes, I almost went to find that book to read, but I refused to quit. Solution #2 - Match up the colors around each piece because those colors and rolls were all different colors. This took me a while, but with each piece that dropped into place, I could see light at the end of the tunnel.


Problem #3 - the time factor. It literally took me 3 1/2 hours to put together this 350-piece puzzle. My brain kept telling me that there other, more productive, less frustrating things to do. I almost listened. Solution #3 - just plain don't give up. After the first hour, I knew I was going to finish just because I had come this far and I wasn't going back! So I touched it out, attacked it with laser-like focus and accomplished the task at hand. Yes, it's just a puzzle, and no, it's not that bug of a deal, but for me on that day, it was huge. And it made me hungry, so there's that. What have you not given up on recently that gave you some motivation and encouragement?

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