The Rubik's Cube Metaphor for problems
There are some problems in life that look like a Rubik’s Cube without the clear delineation of axes on which the parts of the cubes rotate. The end outcome is clear, but how to get there is so totally obfuscated that even starting is problematic.
No matter what I do, I always end up at the same starting point. I change positions; nothing happens. I change the light; nothing happens. I twist, I turn, I rotate; the cube itself remains unaffected. There is never a single moment of forward movement, of progress. My hands slide and glide around the surface of the cube as if it were one solid piece.
When I ask for help, I get a shrug of the shoulders and am told that it is up to me to solve. Some people may give pointers, tell their own story of solving the cube and point out examples of others that have solved the cube, but it all remains unhelpful when it comes to my own cube. I research cube solving. I apply my intellect and creativity through sleepless nights to solving this puzzle.
Some, who have solved the cube say that it isn’t worth it. I am better off leaving it alone. Others say that the cube will solve itself with no help from me. None believe that I will never solve the cube, or at least none say I will never solve the cube.
Then I see someone pick up a cube just like mine, and with a few flicks of the wrist solve the puzzle. That’s when I think, “Shit! Why can’t I do that?” But the cube remains an unassailable bastion hiding its wondrous solution and diminishing its returns in the mists of passing time.
No matter what I do, I always end up at the same starting point. I change positions; nothing happens. I change the light; nothing happens. I twist, I turn, I rotate; the cube itself remains unaffected. There is never a single moment of forward movement, of progress. My hands slide and glide around the surface of the cube as if it were one solid piece.
When I ask for help, I get a shrug of the shoulders and am told that it is up to me to solve. Some people may give pointers, tell their own story of solving the cube and point out examples of others that have solved the cube, but it all remains unhelpful when it comes to my own cube. I research cube solving. I apply my intellect and creativity through sleepless nights to solving this puzzle.
Some, who have solved the cube say that it isn’t worth it. I am better off leaving it alone. Others say that the cube will solve itself with no help from me. None believe that I will never solve the cube, or at least none say I will never solve the cube.
Then I see someone pick up a cube just like mine, and with a few flicks of the wrist solve the puzzle. That’s when I think, “Shit! Why can’t I do that?” But the cube remains an unassailable bastion hiding its wondrous solution and diminishing its returns in the mists of passing time.