Quantum Smack

I finished OCR scanning the typewritten journal pages yesterday.  (Finally!)  Of course, I had to browse and be sure all the words were scanned correctly.  A mark on the page can throw the letter recognition off, causing several paragraphs to end up looking like goobledy-gook code.

As I looked over the entries from 1992, 1993 and 1987, I began imagining that if I had a time machine I would go back and smack myself upside the head so hard.  Seriously, I’d probably bring a stick along with me.  If there was one message I could go back and give my younger self it would be something like, “There is no perfect time to start the things you want.  Some moments are better than others, but all you have is now.  Work with it!” 

And then: Smack!

The right life puzzle pieces

Today, as I continued decluttering my household and organizing what I wanted to keep, I thought of my unemployment situation and the decisons I’ve made and ones I’m going to have to make in the next few days; and I started to see my life as a sort of jigsaw puzzle.

But instead of assembling an image, I’m trying to assemble a meaning, a definition.

There are a 1,000 pieces around me, but only 100 are needed, so I have to recognize which are the 100 that really fit together.

Looking back I can see where I’ve held onto wrong pieces far too long, telling myself that they fit close enough.  Or I focused so much energy trying to get those wrong pieces to fit that I lost sight of the larger picture.   

Some pieces I chose because other people told me I needed them.  Sometimes I gave up when I couldn’t find the piece I wanted.  And there were other pieces I set aside only to discover much later that I had lost them.  Lately I’ve been trying to rediscover those pieces.

And if I ever find all 100 pieces of my life puzzle?  Then I’d be prepared to assemble the next puzzle that only needs 50 or 30 or just 10 pieces.