I used to despise doing puzzles. In my early and mid-years, I couldn’t sit still long enough to go fishing or do a puzzle. Quiet was boring and stuffy and I had to go go go. Luckily, life has changed me to adore the quiet and find time for it instead of go go go all the time.
As I was doing a puzzle with my kids today, it hit me that doing a puzzle represents our journey through chronic illness.
Lay the groundwork. The tedious work has to be done. You can’t do a puzzle as easily or as quickly until it is laid out and you can see it all. The same is true in chronic illness. You have to do the research, listen to the doctors, the specialists, talk to other patients and lay it all out to decide your game plan. Fighting Lyme or other chronic illnesses takes a multi level strategy – its war.
Team work is key. You can sit and stare at the same pile of pieces looking for that one you need for hours and someone new walks by and finds it right away. Use your spouse, your parents, a neighbor or friend to bounce off ideas. Talk over your budget or game plan for health and see if they see something you don’t. I’m a huge fan of “hiring” one of these people to be your advocate or quarterback. You sometimes feel so terrible you can’t make that big decision, or don’t trust yourself to do it alone – so don’t.
Have fun along the journey. Doing a puzzle with my kids is fun and much more enjoyable. But I am a workaholic and staring at something partially done drives me crazy – so I have to remember to take it easy and laugh along the way – it doesn’t all have to get done in one afternoon.
Don’t forget to step back and give the whole thing a new perspective. Staring at it at 6 inches doesn’t let you see the whole picture. Sometimes the day to day grind of every 5 minutes is HARD when you feel crappy and just too much. Picture a healthier you in a year and smile. Make a list of everything you are going to do when you get well and hang it up where you can look at it often.
Some pieces are just missing. We can get all the way to the end of a puzzle and have one piece missing. Then we all have to search to find it on the floor or in the box. Or, because I buy most of our puzzles from garage sales – maybe it has been missing for a while. We don’t know this side of heaven why some of our lives, our health, our healing has still that one piece missing. Don’t give up searching, don’t give up praying, don’t give up.
Don’t focus on what’s missing or undone. Focus on what’s complete, what you’ve done, how far you’ve come. Don’t let the remaining holes keep you from enjoying what has been accomplished. That means celebrating getting out of bed today, then do it. Celebrate the baby steps in chronic illness – honestly they are the hardest to achieve in the beginning and need the most “atta boys” to continue the uphill battle.
The last few pieces get easier. Both my kids dislike the tedious process of turning all the pieces over and separating by edges and colors in the beginning, but they both really like near the end when all the mystery pieces seem to find their place so easily. At first as I’ve felt better, I was frustrated that the last few pieces of the puzzle didn’t fit yet. But now I see the benefit of focus in the final few. If you are in the 80 – 90% better category, congratulations! Don’t get frustrated about the last leg of the race. It might seem like the last few pieces take longer, they can and they might. Look at it like laser precision focus – they wouldn’t have become missing pieces until everything else was put together. Sometimes the body doesn’t even recognize these last few pieces until they are all that is remaining.
Learn from the journey, enjoy the finished picture and when the puzzle is done – leave it out on the table so you can tell everyone who visits about how you got it accomplished.
Blessings and healing,
Janice Fairbairn
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