Everything I needed to know about Life I learned from a Jigsaw Puzzle

by: Francis Kong

Jacquie Sewell  apologizes to Robert Fulghum because she uses his popular book “Everything I needed To Know About Life I learned In Kindergarten,” reshapes it and came out with an article entitled: “Everything I needed To Know About Life I Learned From A Jigsaw Puzzle.”

Let me share it with you.

Here are the lessons:

1. Don't force a fit--if something is meant to be, it will come together naturally.

2. When things aren't going so well, take a break. Everything will look different when you return.

3. Be sure to look at the big picture. Getting hung up on the little pieces only leads to frustration.

4. Perseverance pays off. Every important puzzle went together bit by bit, piece by piece.

5. When one spot stops working, move to another. But be sure to come back later (see #4).

6. The creator of the puzzle gave you the picture as a guidebook. Refer to the Creator's guidebook often.

7. Variety is the spice of life. It's the different colors and patterns that make the puzzle interesting.

8. Working together with friends and family makes any task fun.

9. Establish the border first. Boundaries give a sense of security and order.

10. Don't be afraid to try different combinations. Some matches are surprising.

11. Take time often to celebrate your successes (even little ones).

12. Anything worth doing takes time and effort. A great puzzle can't be rushed.

13. When you finally reach the last piece, don't be sad. Rejoice in the masterpiece you've made and enjoy a well-deserved rest.[1]

We can actually learn life lessons from everything that we see around us. We just need to keep our eyes and ears open.

I guess one of the greatest tragedies in life is for intelligent people to be very wise and knowledgeable about many things in life except life itself.

How ironic it is to find people who have messed up their lives thoroughly and when you study them carefully, they had talent, they had intelligence, they had education but they simply do not know how to live.

Intelligent businessmen unfaithful to their wife, abandoning the family and hurting the kids.

Educated career people exchanging friendship for the job promotion, talented winos and drug dependents, you see them everywhere. They do not know how to live.

Listen. We don’t just live our lives naturally, we live it skillfully. Similarly, we don’t just expect our marriages to work. We work on our marriage.

This is why I’m still learning.

Every morning when I meditate on the Bible I am learning. I talk to the Author and I hear Him talk and I’m learning.

I choose my books carefully and when I read the experiences and advices from well known authors who have shown a great track record of success in life I’m learning from them. When I go to church and I listen intently to the message I’m learning.

And then, life is no longer an inscrutable puzzle, the pieces begin to fit into place.

I guess you understand what I’m saying.

[1] Copyright 2001 Jacquie Sewell