Years ago I bought an unusual jigsaw puzzle based on the TV show Murder, She Wrote. There’s no picture of the crime scene on the box, just a short story, the beginning of the murder mystery. You read the words and analyze each puzzle piece and you snap them in place to form the picture. You see the clues to solve the crime, which is easy, once the puzzle is finished.

In my 50s and in transition, it feels like I’m putting together another puzzle like this, except the pieces aren’t glossy color photos mounted on cardboard, they’re the elements of my life – home, career, relationships – the major items. And another big difference: the picture is for me to envision. The solution for this puzzle is not available from Amazon, eBay or any great Puzzle Publisher in the sky, so the stakes are a little different.

Even so, this change feels timely, which seems strange yet right on track, reminding me of what it felt like driving my first car to college my senior year. The feeling was free and open, jittery and excited, all rolled up into one – both sides of a coin.

But that was 30 years ago and I hesitate to assign this current life transition merely to advancing age. It’s not that simple. Perhaps “evolution” is the better word, because it evokes the spiral image that spiritual masters sometimes describe or as the poet Rumi called it, “always widening rings of being.”

Walking that spiral path, with puzzle pieces lying all around, it seems useful to look for mentors who’ve shown the way.

Oprah Winfrey has made a transition or two. Her monthly magazine column is called What I Know for Sure. She knows how to connect the dots between the small wonders and big issues in her life, like watching new puppies discovering a field of grass, reminding herself that she wants to live a joyful life. “I want every day to be a fresh start on expanding what is possible,” she says. She keeps daily journals to help her stay focused on the goals she sets for herself.

Benjamin Franklin, in his autobiography, described the method he used to practice 13 “virtues,” as he called them – including silence, resolution, sincerity and industry – in an effort to improve himself and develop wisdom.

He focused on one virtue each week for many years and kept track of his progress in a journal. Looking back near the end of his life, he wrote, “On the whole, tho’ I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the endeavour, a better and a happier man than I otherwise should have been if I had not attempted it.”

What do I know for sure? And what would be on my list, if I followed Ben’s example? I decided that the purpose for the 50s decade is “be who you are,” as in shine your light on the world, as in make the music that’s in you. To be yourself, you have to invest in yourself. No other person, family, organization or outward entity can house you: it is your divine right, mission and responsibility to create, in honor of yourself as a chip off the Divine old block.

And that leads to writing. So I wrote myself a list of things to remember:

1. You have a past to draw from and build on. Remember your good stories and write them down. Remember what it was like to teach new people a new job. It was more important that they had past experiences to draw upon than whether they had done the exact tasks. You can hang new things on old hooks.

2. You have dreams, a future that you can envision. Remember the darkroom analogy. Go into your quiet place and selectively light those areas you want to bring into your world, like the photographic negative projected on light-sensitive paper. Set your goals.

3. You are a creator. Remember that you have a creative engine called mind to link past and future in the now. You already know something about giving birth to your desires and you’ll learn more as you travel the path. “Babe” Ruth ended his career with more strikeouts than home runs, but he’s remembered for the homers because he kept swinging. Focus time on task.

It’s a big puzzle and I don’t know exactly what the picture will be. But I do know for sure that when this puzzle is assembled, it will be more than a 12x15 color photo. It will be a different, more authentic life, built upon everything that’s come before, with additions.

4. Remember to have fun with the puzzle and enjoy the journey.

Sally Kimbel is a career changer, as well as a student and teacher of metaphysics.