Collect small pieces consistently

Photo by Hans-Peter Gauster on Unsplash

The most impactful experiences and achievements in my life are those that needed thousands or tens of thousands of small pieces to be achieved. In this article I will share one such example with you that I managed to accomplish last October.

I consider this my biggest achievement in life so far. I can trace it back to collecting pieces since I'm alive.

A few months ago was the first time I ever talked to anyone of my family on my father's side.

Collecting small pieces

My father had no contact with his family since before I was alive. I had only one photo album to work with, and the occasional story or anecdote.

Whenever my father spoke of Iran, whenever he said something in Farsi, whenever I learned something about Iran, I stored that as a small piece in my huge puzzle of "meeting my family". Whenever I was able to find an inspiration about Iran, I would store it in my huge puzzle.

I met literally hundreds of people that somehow contributed to me finding my family. No matter who I met, what I saw, what I felt, I always stored pieces and collected them. I'm a piece collector. So I am also incredibly grateful to hundreds of people. It's quite an overwhelming feeling.

I think the majority of those don't even realize they helped me. It could have been someone sharing a song with me, someone sharing a story, or even someone expressing their anger at me, or threatening me.

I can also single out about a dozen persons or so who have contributed significantly to this outcome. I am forever and intensely grateful to their contribution.

In the end, tens of thousands of miniscule, very small steps - pieces collected across almost three decades of my life - culminated in the peak experience of meeting my family. Suddenly, I was awarded with 40 first cousins and their children all over the world, who are all very happy to know me, who are available for connection and support, who are curious about me, and who like to share who they are with me, and who I'm very curious about!

It has taken me a couple months to really let the intensity of this experience sink in. Since my father's death anniversary last October, I have been pretty much in daily contact with 40 family members who I have not had any contact with in the 29 years prior.

See also:
Why I am learning Farsi
How long did it take to write this article?

I cannot yet say how big the impact of this new aspect in my life will be. But I know, this is so far the biggest change I have ever experienced. It will have tremendous impact for decades to come. One concrete outcome is my decision to start playing the Setar. When I hear its sound, it touches my heart and I often need to cry.

Such are the experiences I make, and the experiences I seek.

Good things are finding me

I have always known that good things are coming to me. Good things are finding me.

After hikes with my father and my siblings I always had dozens of sticks, stones, shiny pieces, nails, plastic trinkets, lots of treasures in my pockets. And each of them was important to me.

I like such coats and jackets with a lot of pockets. Because I put many small things in them - chewing gums, hand lotion, gloves, tissues, coins, buttons, needles, tooth picks.

I know that the good things find me.

And the thing is, really, when you're out on the street, in nature, on a travel, on your way to work, there are countless things in your environment, in your surrounding. And - always - there is something that can inspire you, that is meaningful to you, that is beautiful, that touches your heart, that represents something in you, that reminds you of something you love, that makes you feel connected to the universe, that makes you feel connected to yourself.

There's always something. Follow your feeling and follow your heart, and you will find it. And it will find you. It already found you, because the universe is everywhere. And you are a piece of the universe.

Persevere

So I'm living a life where I'm specifically seeking these experiences that need tens of thousands of pieces until it clicks one day. And suddenly you have another completed puzzle of 10000 pieces.

Every moment of your life contains at least one piece of a puzzle.

There are of course multiple puzzles in each life. The good thing is it doesn't matter how you approach completing them. Everything you experience is a piece in some puzzle that is meaningful to you.

You need to be consistent, dedicated, persevering. Perseverance is everything.

There might be more efficient ways, there might be easier ways to accomplish even more. But this is a working solution - I have learned that myself. Once something works, you can always improve it. Don't worry about efficiency for a long time. Persevere.

Let things touch your heart

Last summer, someone contacted me after 10 years since the last time we spoke, as a reaction to a blog article I wrote. This has been another extremely positive event for me, with tremendous of impact and consequences I cannot all forsee yet.

One concrete outcome this has contributed to significantly: I will publish my first poem collection this year - "Growing Up" - thanks to the inspiration of this one person!

Meeting a friend, meeting another person, is a puzzle piece in itself. A huge, complex and beautiful puzzle piece. Every human being is a big part of my life. I might not remember their name, I might even not remember I met them. But I know it in my heart. They touched my heart.

So this might sound fancy - always let things touch your heart. This way you collect everything and overtime you will make such experiences that change your life significantly for the rest of your life.

Inspire and get inspired

I think one of my superpowers is my capability to get inspired by everyone. To me, this mechanism is huge. It's both the result of and the driver for transformation. For the last four to five years, every year I go through bigger changes faster than the year before. And I am just getting started. This is a wonderful and very fulfilling feeling.

This is my advice to you - live a life of compounding, of collecting pieces, of following your heart, opening your heart, and trusting and loving yourself.

There is always something to learn, and a new perspective to see. I am grateful for every encounter, every small puzzle piece in my life. Cheers to many more in 2021. Inspire and get inspired!

Persevere, and you will complete your life's puzzles - collect small pieces consistently.

!امیدورم که همیشه شادی و موفق باشید