Raison d’être

It has taken most of his life – but, after 26 years, builder Graham Parker has finally solved the puzzle of the Rubik’s Cube.

When he bought the toy in 1983, Yuri Andropov was leader of the Soviet Union, breakfast TV was a novelty and music CDs were in the shops for the first time.

‘I cannot tell you what a relief it was to finally solve it,’ the 45-year-old from Portchester, Hampshire, said. ‘It has driven me mad over the years – it felt like it had taken over my life.’

‘I have missed important events to stay in and solve it and I would lie awake at night thinking about it.’

‘I have had wrist and back problems from spending hours on it but it was all worth it. When I clicked that last bit into place and each face was a solid colour, I wept.’

Wife Jean, 47, said it had felt like there had been three people in their marriage.

‘When I met Graham, he was already obsessed with the cube – spending hours on it every day,’ she said. ‘I have often thought about getting rid of it but I knew he would not rest until he had solved it.’

A spokesman for the governing body for competitions involving the puzzle, the World Cube Association, said it was ‘definitely the longest it has taken’ to finish the cube. [metro]

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You see, it really does not matter how big or small your accomplishment is in other people’s eyes. You don’t have to accomplish anything for other people’s sake. For instance, when you managed to quit smoking and nobody praises you, then you don’t have to feel sad or bad. When you finally managed to model an under-average looking 3D car without anybody’s help except for some tutorials on YouTube, you should feel proud!

The big or small the success is totally relative to yourself. So stop comparing yourself with others because each and every one of us is made different which means that we have our own strength and weakness. With the strengths we help others, and with the weakness we learn from others. Go up all the way and never look back, one step at a time. Cheers!