Nothing great was ever done without much enduring.
St. Catherine of Sienna
Patient endurance is a quality that is in short supply these days. Marketing appeals to our need for instant gratification. The problem with that is the feeling of being gratified is gone as quickly as it came.
- Businesses take a short term approach and are concerned with quarterly profits
- We want our needs met and we want them met now, even if it means going into debt
- We want that loved one to meet our needs even if theirs aren’t being met and they have a hundred things to do at the moment
But the truly great things that satisfy take time and patience.
- Planting a garden
- Raising healthy, independent children
- Growing a business that lasts
- Changing a community for the better
If you have a vision of something great, stay with it through the messy middles. There will be interruptions. There will be times something else sounds better. Be so patient it makes the hotheads want to put up their dukes because they can’t stand it!
