Via @LongDistanceLoveBombs on Instagram

Have you ever felt like you had everything, but also that something was somehow missing?

Have you ever felt blessed but also incomplete, lucky yet cursed, whole but lacking? Have you pondered the puzzle of existence and felt frustrated, bored or forlorn?

Here’s the thing about life: There are no missing pieces, and the hardest lesson learned is that you already are the whole damn puzzle.

Just like the real ones, if you want to complete your own picture, the advice is the same: start with the edges and work your way in.

I’m no professional puzzler, but here are a dozen helpful hints I’ve learned about this process:

1. Puzzles are hard work, frustrating, and they may drive you cuckoo or up a tree, especially big puzzles with lots of pieces.

2. Your life is a big puzzle with lots of pieces. Think about it. We have health pieces and hope pieces, wealth pieces and work pieces. We have emotional pieces and pieces of our past, our dreams, and the things we wish to be.

Nothing ever falls to pieces. Everything is always in pieces.

3. Every puzzle is complete, even if it’s in pieces. Nothing is ever missing. It’s all there, waiting to be truly seen, yearning for discovery. Just like we are. We are all, each of us, just puzzles and pieces.

4. Searching is a huge part of the process. You may not find the right piece immediately, but it’s there all along, hiding in plain sight, waiting to be discovered. It has to be. That is how puzzles work. That is how we work.

5. We find what we seek. Period.

6. If you take the tiniest, smallest, most insignificant piece, pull it out of the pile of disorder and chaos and hopelessness, and you place it right where it needs to go, if you place that one little piece somewhere nice, that’s progress.

And progress is enough. Progress is how things change for the better.

7. It is helpful to get help. Many hands make light work, and while it may be tough to ask for assistance, if help makes things easier, why would we ever refuse it? Work smarter, not harder.

8. Sometimes you pick up a piece and you’re certain it’s right. You just know it’s the one. And you go to place this piece where it needs to go, and you discover it’s not the right piece at all. It turns out you were wrong.

Then you put that piece back in the pile, and you start looking for another one. You start over. And that is totally fine. Don’t ever be scared to start again. Sometimes stepping back is how we move forward.

9. When you do find the right piece, you just know it. It makes you smile inside. It fits.

10. It’s incredibly rewarding to find that right piece, but then, immediately, we are on the hunt for the next one, the next right piece, searching once more. Actually putting pieces together is a very small part of the process.

11. Sometimes you need to go climb a mountain, or eat some nachos, or light a candle, or do some somersaults, before getting back to work. And that’s okay. Breaks rejuvenate.

12. Don’t forget to stop and reflect at how far you’ve come, how much work you’ve done. Always remember to appreciate the progress you’ve made, and the process you gained.

So, there you have it — a dozen tips to help complete the puzzle of You.

The next time you are lost among the pieces, yearning for the full picture, or seeking something to fill your empty spaces, I hope these tips help remind you that everything is actually as it should be — patiently present and waiting to be put in place.

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Long Distance Love Bombs

Jeremy Goldberg (Long Distance Love Bombs) is trying to make kindness cool and the world better than it was yesterday. He's also a kindhearted marine biologist with a punk rock spirit and an urge to live the shit out of his life. You could join him on Facebook, Instagram, and Etsy. You can also send him some love via email or sign up for his newsletter.

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