After a
refreshing 9 mile run amid Tropical Storm Debbie with the Sunday group, I came home
and had a nice breakfast with my parents. Then I got a pencil and sat down to
do the daily crossword puzzle. On Sundays the puzzle is bigger and more
challenging so I usually only get a few words and then resort to giving up.
Today, however, my mind was in beast mode (aka alert and ready for the
challenge). As I was filling in words, and pondering on clues, I got to
thinking...
Crossword puzzles are a lot like life. They can be intimidating if
you don’t know a lot of the answers right off the bat, but if you are patient
you’ll realize that it’s not a matter of how many answers you know before you
put the pencil (or pen if you are boss) to the paper. All you need is one
answer that you are sure is correct and then that gives you a clue to the
solution of many other questions.
Crossword
puzzles are divided into sections that eventually converge to form a whole,
similar to the phases of life. You may figure out all of the answers in the
top, left corner of the puzzle but the remainder of the puzzle is still empty.
Sometimes you use a word in that section to guide you into an adjacent section.
Other times you start somewhere new. No matter which route or approach you
take, you know that eventually it will all come together to make sense. You may
look at a word with a few letters filled in and have no idea what it could
possibly be. Your idea of what the correct answer might be does not match with
the letters already filled in. Then you begin to question if you answered previous questions correctly. This is when it gets hard.
Once you
focus your mind on a possible answer or interpretation of a clue, it is hard to
think of anything else that could be right. Your mind becomes fixated on your
interpretation of the clue and no matter how many times you read it, you cannot
think of an answer that fits. You’re stumped. It’s like when we are closed
minded to opportunity. When we are set in our ways or think we have to live a
certain way, it’s hard to see differently or recognize what is truly right for
us. I think this is one of the biggest challenges in puzzles and in life.
But then you
get that “aha!” moment when you realize you were looking at it all wrong and
things start to come together to make more sense. You gain some momentum and
are finally able to figure out questions that you had been trying to solve for
a while (This is an awesome feeling if you aren’t a crossword nerd like I am). It usually
doesn’t last forever though, and you may soon find yourself stumped again. But
that’s okay because it’s all part of the process.
I rarely
ever am able to finish a crossword puzzle, but that hasn’t discouraged me at
all from doing them. I’ve been taking the crossword out of the newspaper since
I was in middle school. I like the challenge and the way they make me think
outside of the box. They’re pretty good entertainment during a boring class,
too. ;) Some days I can only get a few words while other days I nearly finish. I
think not knowing all of the answers makes crossword puzzles, and life, fun and
exciting. I live for the unknown!
One day, when I am grey-haired and wise, I picture myself still doing the crossword puzzle, but I’m thinking I’ll be writing in pen and that I’ll be able to finish it more often than not. I know I still won’t have all of the answers, but my gut tells me that no one ever will. Until then, I’ll keep moving while trying to maintain an open minded approach to the clues of life…
