The Phases of a New - Rubik's Cube Enthusiast

Rubik's Cube seems like mission impossible for those who don't know how to solve it. Recently having learned how to Cube, I realized that it isn't all that difficult once you get the hang of it. Here are the phases that a person trying to Cube usually goes through. 

Zeal: When you start, you are at the peak of your determination. You watch some YouTube videos where some guy solved the Cube in 8 seconds, and it seems so easy and trivial that you go buy yourself a basic 3x3x3 Rubik's Cube. And in order to get started, you mess up the entire thing by turning and twisting the Cube to your heart's content. And thus begins your journey through a maze. 

OMG what is this: After spending an hour trying to salvage the Cube from the mess that you created, you start getting worried, and the zeal starts to falter a bit. With every twist and turn of the Cube, you seem to jumble it up even further instead of organizing it the way it should. Your head starts to spin ever so slightly. 

Frustration: A couple more hours pass but you still aren't anywhere close to solving the Cube. For a moment there you thought you almost had it, but it was only a mirage that evaporated in the next few turns of the Cube. Desperate, you try to retract your steps but to no avail. The passion is now feeble, almost a myth. 

Giving up: No, this is going nowhere. The idea of pulling the pieces of the Cube apart and reassembling them correctly has crossed your mind several times by now, but your innate sense of ethics didn't let you act on it. Frustrated to your core, you give up and throw the darn Cube somewhere in the corner of your room. Maybe the Rubik's Cube isn't your proverbial cup of tea. 

Passion reborn: Now, most people never recover from 'giving up' phase. After all, there are about 43 quintillion possible combinations; how could you be expected to find the correct one? But it's the ones who come back and pick up the Rubik's Cube again who move forward ultimately. It's all about rediscovering the lost passion and trying harder this time around. At this stage, you things slowly start making sense. 

Finally solving: Be it through countless hours spent trying to figure out the Rubik's Cube, or using YouTube or other internet-based tutorials where you have to memorize algorithms, you finally solve the Cube. It doesn't matter if it's pure luck or not, you've done it and that's what matters. Pat yourself on the back; post a picture of the solved Cube on Instagram; add a life event commemorating this day on Facebook – let everyone know that you possess a skill that most others don't. 

Addiction: Deep down, even you know that solving the Rubik's Cube once doesn't mean you've mastered it. You must keep practicing till you know all the processes and algorithms by heart and the steps come fluidly to you. At this point, you start practicing the Cube whenever you have a few free minutes in hand. It gets so addictive that you have dreams (or are they nightmares?) about solving the Cube, and it's the only thing you can think of all day. 

Abandoning the Cube: Now that you are something of an expert of the 3x3x3 Rubik's Cube, it's time to move on to a different challenge. So once again you leave the Cube at a forgotten corner of your room, where it gathers dust, dreaming of the days past, awaiting to be picked up by its rightful owner – you. 

In all honesty, learning how to solve the Rubik's Cube is not all that difficult. Besides the right resources for learning, all you really need is patience.