What’s your riddle?

You know, the one that’s still stumping you, no matter how hard you try to solve it. That puzzle you keep turning over in your mind like a Rubik’s Cube, knowing there’s a solution out there somewhere. What’s your riddle?

Recently, I’ve been catching up on Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, some of the few King masterpieces that I haven’t read (or devoured). (Yes, you could say I’m a fan.) Today, I finished The Waste Lands (III) and began Wizard and Glass (IV), and the scene that had me hooked was all about riddles. The main characters – Roland, Eddie, Susannah and Jake – must stump their antagonist, Blaine, with a riddle he can’t solve. Of course, Blaine is a demented spirit/ghost powering a train who’s losing his mind and has a nearly endless knowledge of riddles.

In typical King style, I was turning pages faster and faster to see if the ka-tet (along with their furry companion, Oy) lived or died. It also made me think more about riddles, a concept that our ‘world has moved on’ from, it seems. However, riddles actually apply today as well as ever.

We all have that riddle that we’re trying to solve, big or small.

Some of us battle addictions while others have a fear of failure. Some can’t put down the bottle while others have built a wall and won’t let anyone in. We all have something. What’s your thing?

 Mine is perfectionism. I’ve always felt this driving need from deep inside me to be perfect and excel at everything, which is impossible. I do understand that, and I’ve come a long way from my youth, but perfectionism’s an ugly force that still rears its head to me today. I know that I’ll always deal with it on some level, just below the surface, no matter how much progress I make. That’s my riddle that I can’t quite solve even after years of looking at it from every angle, considering different solutions. (As you can imagine, that doesn’t sit well with the perfectionist monster inside of me. Talk about irony…)

So there’s my riddle. What are you trying to solve? About your life, yourself, your situation? Whatever it is, know that all riddles can be solved eventually. They may take years or much sweat and stress, but they can be solved.

OK, don’t leave me stranded. Leave a comment about your riddle, so we can all bring our daily battles to light. If you don’t feel comfortable exposing your riddle, then just let me know that I’m not alone in my fight.

So, what’s your riddle?

Stephen King book covers courtesy of The Dark Tower Official Website
Amazing drawing of the Ka-tet by John M. Prinkey courtesy of Elfwood

Enjoy the sunshine!
Jaime

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