Though you might be thinking this article is about my afternoon lunch date with Iowa’s Brandon Routh (the movies’ new Superman), it’s not. I wasn’t that fortunate. But I did manage to spend the afternoon putting together a 60-piece floor puzzle of the superhero. To my younger friends, Superman might be an icon for saving the day; to me, he’s a hero for imparting a lesson on enjoying the simpler experiences in life, even if they are intended for a much younger audience.

I recently purchased a 5-foot-tall Superman floor puzzle for my 4-year-old son, whose most recent obsession is Routh in “Superman Returns.” One Sunday afternoon, as I encouraged the toddler to do something more productive than watch TV, I thought the puzzle would make a nice mother-and-son bonding activity for us.

What I learned, in the process, was how important it was for me (and for all of us, I think) to periodically indulge in the simpler things in life and experience the less complicated pleasures we enjoyed as youngsters … like a Superman puzzle, a game of checkers or whatever your calling may have been.

So, as my son and I turned all 60 puzzle pieces right side up and placed the box cover front and center, I was in a youthful “high,” fully engaged in the joys of assembling Mr. Routh’s hunky figure. Putting my graduate-school skill set to good use, I found myself trying to give my preschooler the abridged version of Strategy 101 — I decided we would start with the “big picture” and then focus on detail, hoping to instill in him a methodical approach to success.

My toddler moved on to a task with more immediate gratification.

But I marched onward with the puzzle — frequently staring at the box cover, strategy in place, mind to task, working diligently with my mother’s voice ringing in my ears, “ALWAYS FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED!”

A while later and with only four pieces left before my victory, the youngster came rushing back and declared, “I can do this puzzle all by myself.” And so he went on to place the remaining four pieces with the utmost confidence, marveling at his accomplishment.

Though he did steal my thunder, I have to admit — THE PUZZLE WAS PURE FUN! For those of us in the corporate arena, where projects can be long-term with no clear end in sight, it was completely gratifying to work on a task that had a defined beginning, middle and end (even though the preschooler did ultimately finish my project).

Though I’m no expert on “10 ways to relax in a highly complex corporate world,” I will share with you the immense satisfaction of spending a leisurely afternoon focusing on something I loved to do as a child and hadn’t done in years.

In the work setting, where business plans and pro formas don’t always fit as neatly as the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, it becomes all the more important to gain some perspective by enjoying the simpler pleasures in life. Don’t knock the satisfaction you’ll feel as you discover the “just right” puzzle piece neatly fitting into the next or the pleasure you’ll get as you re-experience some other adventure you were once so passionate about.

Personally, I now eagerly await the arrival of the next superhero movie, the youngster’s new obsession and the next floor puzzle that we’ll do “together.”

Mashal Husain is manager of business development and strategic planning at Blank Children’s Hospital.