On Sudoku...
Friday, April 23, 2010 
What I learned from Sudoku...
I was playing Sudoku the other day...every day really...but this day was different. I had about a third of the squares left to fill and none of the answers were coming to me. So I turned on the pencil function and began filling in possibilities. Usually, as I fill in these possibilities one or more of the answers become obvious and then the others fall into place. This time I finished the possibilities and none of them were obvious. Every empty square had multiple possibilities. I checked all of my answers to make sure that I hadn't made a mistake. I hadn't. I checked the possibilities again. No luck. So I stared at it. I know how hard it is in Sudoku to backtrack and fix mistakes. I knew that if I guessed on one answer the rest would follow but the that there was a fifty-fifty chance that I was headed down the wrong track and I wouldn't be able to back out. I was really bothered now. I had done all of this work and guessing might mess it up. Then I remembered it's only a game and if I get messed up I can start a new one so I jumped in. I picked a square. Guessed a number and started to eliminate the empty squares one by one. I figured I was really messing up the game. But it worked! Somehow I guessed right and the had finished the grid in under a minute. To me, Sudoku had never been a guessing game. It was a puzzle. You find the answer to the puzzle and you don't guess...ever. But this guessing was liberating. I knew that I might me messing up the whole thing, but who cares? I wanted to try. And I did and it worked.
So, Sudoku and life...
To me, life is a puzzle not a guessing game. I meticulously choose my steps and analyze my way. This can be agonizing at times. I'm always so worried about making the right...the best decision. I analyze and I evaluate. I analyze and I evaluate the life out of life. But sometimes there is no obvious answer. Sometimes, there are a lot of possibilities but no clear path. I admit that in the past I have shied away from a lot of these decisions. I usually ere on the side of safety and logic. But what if I didn't? What if I jumped in and made my best guess? Sure fifty percent of the time I could be wrong. But isn't that better than just turning the game off and declaring it "unwinnnable"? I'd rather fail sometimes, be hurt sometimes, be in an awkward situation sometimes than do nothing. That is how we grow. By trying. I have to try to remember that risks are risky but they can bring rewards. Take more risks!...In things other than Sudoku.
Reader Comments (3)
Ok, now I'm really starting to think we are the same person...
this was the best pep talk ever. (i know, not that it was meant for that, but as i'm getting ready to head out the door to tackle something that might change my life forever, it feels inspired.)
So simple, profound, and true! Thanks for sharing the excellent story and insight!