A life manual

Wouldn’t it be great if the answers to life were in the back of a book, just like Charlie Brown ponders in this quote. Or would it?

I recently got interested in Sudoku puzzles. I’ve been finding them quite relaxing and a way to unwind, taking my mind off what’s gone on during the day. Chilling out on the sofa, it can be satisfying completing the lines of numbers and solving puzzles one after the other. Until I got to the harder levels that is!

Then I discovered a magic button.

After getting stuck on a particularly tricky puzzle, I suddenly noticed it at the side of the page. Pressing it instantly revealed the possible numbers for each box. At first this was a revelation! I flew through the sudoku with ease. But after a while it got a bit boring.

There was no challenge anymore and it became a box filling exercise. The feeling of accomplishment and achievement had disappeared.

So if we had a book of answers to help us navigate life, would the same happen? It might make life easier, but would we still grow as people and become better humans? Or would we get bored and feel unfulfilled?

Perhaps not knowing the answers takes us down paths we would never have found otherwise. Rather than a linear route, we could follow forks in the road that allow us to visit new and interesting places or meet people we might not have met.