A Matter of Principle: Puzzles promote better thinking

By Qarol Price

Oh. My. Goodness! (Insert “happy dance” emoji here.)

It’s as though the Heavens are shooting me a big ol’ playful wink of inspiration. Yep, this is my merry Muse tapping me on the shoulder telling me that “there is gold in them thar hills.”

So why am I geeking out here? Firstly, the iconic jigsaw puzzle is a metaphor for personal integrity. It’s about well-fitting parts coming together to form a healthy whole as should the body, mind and spirit. Secondly, of all the character traits in Johnston County Public School’s showcase of character traits, integrity intrigues me the most. It engages my mind with the same kind of beckoning charm that game puzzles do.

Erno Rubik, inventor of Rubik’s Cube said, “Our whole life is solving puzzles.”

Exactly! So, puzzle solving skills would seem to be just the life hack tool. But unless you flex your “puzzle muscles,” whether it be through play or pondering real life problems, the mind will lack the strength of imagination to solve a whole host of problems and wonders.

Puzzles help make thinking fun. There is something nourishing about having your brain teased by riddles and mysteries. They stoke the vital fires of life and sharpen the wits needed to lead a triumphant life.

But to observe many children in the public schools I have grown up in and taught in, the sentiment was “Difficult thinking is a ponderous chore to be avoided.”

But don’t kids love puzzles? Instantly they know there is some hidden picture or pattern waiting to be revealed, and they are eager to meet the challenge. It may take several tries before you get it, but that’s part of the fun.

The process is just as much fun as the triumphant result. You try this and that possible arrangement of the puzzle pieces. When they don’t fit, when the resulting image makes no sense, you know you’ve goofed somewhere — but that only makes the challenge and your victory even more exciting.

What a lesson in integrity. If you hadn’t already noticed it, attaining personal integrity, moral integrity, is the most important puzzle to solve. You must find all the right pieces and put them together correctly.

The pieces are your goals, principles and priorities which will never be found unless you hit the trail within. There you will discover a jackpot of clues that will crack the code for being able to live with integrity, to walk your talk.

Practice will show that success comes from aligning your actions with your values to form the whole picture, the wholesome picture.

How nice to have National Puzzle Day every January to remind us of the power of puzzles to promote better thinking — especially since it is that kind of thinking that is required to master our own will to achieve the integrity to do the right thing.

Know Thyself!

Qarol Price is a writer and educator. She has taught philosophy to children in Johnston County Public Schools and in Harlem. She is a resident of Selma.