Every year around Thanksgiving, we get out a puzzle and begin building. If we finish one puzzle, we start another and continue building puzzles through the New Year. This is a fun family tradition and everyone spends a little time on it through the day. It is fun to just sit and talk while we search for the right pieces.
Over the last few years, this tradition has produced many hours of one-on-one time with each of the kids. It has also been a great time for my wife and I to spend a lot of time talking and setting goals for the upcoming year. There have been a few nights that I have stayed up late working on the puzzle for hours. Some times it gives me time to think. Other times I just get focused on the puzzle and it is a great time to clear my head.
Puzzles are good therapy. They force us to see things that aren’t there. To fill in the holes, use our imagination, and work on our logic a little. And then there is always the nice picture at the end.
Get your puzzle out and start building. Let me know what “Christmas miracles” come out of your puzzle in the comments below. Maybe it’s an improved relationship with a kid from hours spent with a common goal. Maybe it’s getting your head clear enough to solve that problem you’ve been thinking about. Maybe it’s just the feeling of accomplishment from completing a goal.
Comment below on how you’ve been “puzzled”.
