(Im)Patiently Unfolding

Sometimes it’s hard to be patient.  You know how you want things to be, you’re working towards them and you know you’re slowly making progress, but you’re not there NOW.  I guess it’s the old journey vs. destination concept, it’s really the journey that holds the real nuggets of gold, not the destination. 

But it isn’t that easy to be patient, is it?

I set out a couple of years ago with WomenBloom intending to accomplish certain goals with it and in doing so, become a certain person.  Two years later?  Well, both WomenBloom and I are still squarely in the ‘becoming’ stage I’m afraid, but nonetheless I see that, steadily, I am becoming that person I wished to be.  But it feels slow.  Or could it be that my expectations of how long it would take were way off?   Maybe I’m actually going very fast.

I guess it’s all in how you look at it.  

Recently, despite my impatience, I’ve become more aware of the value in just walking this path I’m on. People don’t become experts, or highly accomplished at something, overnight.  Last month I read Outliers:  The Story Of Success by Malcolm Gladwell.  Discouraging and reassuring at the same time, Gladwell devoted a couple of chapters to his research about how long it takes for people to become experts at their chosen field.

Care to guess?  Try, 10,000 hours.  What’s that, about 5 years if you’re working at it full time?

Yep, 10,000 hours is how long it takes to become really accomplished at something.  That’s a lot of hours.  I would guess I’m about 40% of the way.  Well, no wonder I would feel impatient.  I figured a couple of years would do it.  Guess I was off by a few years

It made me feel better though knowing that I’m not remedial.  And, if I stand still for a few moments, I can appreciate the difference in me from two years ago.  I am definitely figuring it out.  Now that I've come far enough to see some progress, I'm accepting that some things just can’t be rushed, can they?  Things unfold in their own time.  I can only remain focused on my goal, keep my eye on the ball and trust that in the fullness of time, one day I will suddenly realize I’ve arrived.

And, hopefully then I will take the time to celebrate.  Then, I’ll look around for the next path.  Or, will I?  Maybe it's all the same path.  Hmmm.....