Do you still remember the first big puzzle you got as a gift from a parent, or grandparent, or uncle? That big box with the many little pieces and the beautiful photo on the box—what will the end result be? And that feeling of excitement, of being willing to accept the challenge to put it all together? It became a test for yourself to see if you could succeed. At that moment, you did not think about the agonizingly long time it would take to put it together, only about the goal of having it completed.
Putting a big, 5,000-piece puzzle together is the perfect metaphor for building a relationship. You start off by buying the box with a photo of what the completed puzzle will look like. That is the same as investing time and effort in a relationship with a certain image of how perfect it will look once you have everything together.
You start by finding the four corners; that's easy and fun, and the excitement still runs high. It's like the beginning of the relationship. Then you start looking for all the blue parts, the clear sky above, and the parts of the relationship you two have in common. And there are many, the puzzle comes together nicely, and the relationship blossoms.
