Brain teasers, puzzles, and games in general have never been my forte. In high school, there was an annual math competition filled with ridiculously difficult math riddles that those of us in accelerated classes participated in (can’t remember the name of the contest now but I’m sure my sister knows). Instead of working hard to solve the problems, I usually spent most of the testing period spacing out because I just “knew” I wouldn’t be able to do it.

So when sudoku became the “in” puzzle to do last year, I didn’t even bother to try. That is, until I came to London. Faced with no internet for over a month, but with plenty of newspapers chock full of sudoku, I grabbed a stubby hotel pencil and gave it a try.

The first puzzle on newsprint soon had worn out holes from my repeated attempts to guess and correct myself. It reaffirmed my belief that my brain wasn’t wired to for numbers or puzzles. Then I read somewhere that sudoku shouldn’t involve any guessing, just pure logic. I resolved to try again. I felt I had something to prove. After all, I couldn’t be any dumber than the woman I saw on the bus clutching a sudoku book or all the other thousands of enthusiasts.

The night I finished my first sudoku puzzle was a breakthrough. The day I completed three puzzles in a row reminded me of some basics to learning.

  1. With practice, everything gets easier.
  2. Never tell yourself you can’t do something especially before you’ve even tried.
  3. You may be more clever than you give yourself credit for.
  4. Systematic logic goes a long way.
  5. Relax your mind and open it to see new patterns.
  6. Pencils AND erasers still have their uses.

Now I’m proud to say that I can complete all the puzzles rated easy, some rated medium, and a few rated difficult. The next thing to work on is speed.

Have you tried sudoku?

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