If at first you don’t succeed. . .
Last year, my daughter brought me this lovely puzzle from her visit to Monet’s house and gardens.
I love puzzles, and while I could tell from the picture it would be quite a challenge, I felt I was up for it.
Only the puzzle’s dimensions didn’t fit my puzzle table.
After much dithering, I bought a separate tabletop puzzle board that seemed to be the right size. When it arrived, I began.
The problem is, I didn’t get very far! All the colors were so similar. And many simply blended in with the light gray felt background of the puzzle board. Ugh. Plus, that board wasn’t as sturdy as my puzzle table. And the drawers for the pieces were smaller and harder to slide in and out.
Still, I persevered.
Until we got busy. And the barely outlined puzzle sitting in my living room drove me crazy. So one day I eased the flaps over the board and carried it to my bedroom, intending to slide it beneath my bed and give myself some time away from it.
Only it didn’t fit flat through the doorframe. And when I tilted it. . .
I’m sure you can imagine.
I shoved the mussed up board and all the pieces under my bed. And forgot about it. Mostly.
Except failing at something—especially something I enjoy and consider myself good at—didn’t sit well. Now, with a few months of little to no travel ahead, I finally pulled the puzzle out again. I salvaged as many of the already put together pieces as I could. I got rid of the puzzle board I didn’t like. And I cleared off my breakfast bar and set up the puzzle there—the black countertops offering a nice contrast to the mostly pastel pieces.
I began again.
I’ve already made more progress this time than last time. And I feel more hopeful that I will reach my goal.
I’m glad I put the puzzle away when I was frustrated. I’m glad I took a break from it for several months. But I’m also glad that when at first I didn’t succeed, I decided to try again!
Of course, this principal can apply to so many things in life. It certainly did with my writing! After I finished my first novel, back in 2002, I went to a conference and pitched it to editors and agents. When I got all the rejections, I put that one away and started again. Another finished novel. More rejections. Another completed novel. And another. Four total tucked in a drawer before I sold my first book, Wings of a Dream, to Bethany House. I stand in my office and look at that book cover when I need to remember that it never hurts to try again.
Have you put aside anything lately that you need to pick up or pull out and try again?
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Giverney, Monet’s home, is so beautiful. I’ve only been once, years ago, but once is enough for all those colors and textures—for all of that beauty—to live on inside you. That visit actually inspired Remembered, as did tromping through Cemetery Montmartre in northern Paris. I love that you didn’t give up on that puzzle. To everything there is a season. And Amen to God’s timing. 🤍
I love that your visit there inspired one of your books! I’d love to see it myself one day.
You are a better puzzler than I am, D’Ann. There have been a few that I gave up on . . . and then banished. They made lovely donations. Ha! I think I feared trying again would just renew the frustration, so I chose to rid myself of the source of negativity all together. I admire your persistance. I hope to see a completed masterpiece from you one day soon. Does your hubby help? Mine will occasionally do a piece or two, but he pretty much avoids the front room when there is a puzzle in the works.
Ha! I did abandon one–a castle with the whole bottom half being fall leaves in almost indistinguishable colors! But I was okay with that because I did about 2/3 of it. This one frustrated me before because it took weeks just to get the outline done! Now that I have that in place, I feel better about it.
And no, hubby doesn’t help. At. All. He is not a puzzle person. 🙂
I wish you the best in finishing that puzzle!
For the last few years, this seems to be how my writing goes. I write a first draft (or sometimes I don’t even finish it), and I hate the way it comes out. So I leave it to gather dust in the archives of my computer, but after a few months to a year, I pull it back out. The time and fresh perspective almost always allow me to see the value in what I wrote, and I’m able to rewrite or edit it into something I’m happy with.
I have a book on my computer that I’ve tried to do that to three times. I have yet to reach the result I’m looking for, but I believe in this story so much that I think it might be time to pull it out and give it one more try.
Especially in writing it helps to give yourself permission to set it aside for a while. You should also give yourself permission to complete another project before you go back to the one you truly believe in. That was what happened with me. I’d tried to write a story I so much wanted to write, set it aside, wrote (and edited) four other complete novels, then pulled out that original idea again–and it was my first published book! Keep at it. You never know what can happen if you persevere.
I’m really impressed with your puzzle abilities! I love doing puzzles and complete one every time I visit our lake house. But I greatly prefer easy 300 piece puzzles I can complete in a few hours. I own just about every 300 piece puzzle of Charles Wysocki’s art that Target stocks. They’re so much fun!!
I love that you have a place and a puzzle brand you know you love, Becky! I often think that if I’d scale back to 500 piece puzzles I wouldn’t get so frustrated! But truly, how quickly I finish is all to do with the design. I usually prefer puzzles with different pictures that I can work to complete before connecting them to finish the entire thing. A one picture puzzle is much harder, in my opinion!
Congratulations! I love puzzles too and recently enjoyed working on one with my daughter when I visited her.
How fun! I always loved working on puzzles with my mom and sisters. It seems we aren’t together long enough at this season of life to get to do that anymore.