Expecting Too Much Too Fast

"What is destructive is impatience, haste, expecting too much too fast."
~ May Sarton

This quote holds great wisdom for me. Sometimes I am so impatient it is painful! I want to achieve my goals YESTERDAY. I want to have what I desire NOW. I need to have it all done RIGHT NOW. I want everything to happen immediately. THat's not the way life works. Period.

One of life's important lessons is learning how to work diligently towards a goal without demanding instant gratification. Some goals take time. Other goals take a LOT of time. Many things worth achieving simply cannot be done instantly!

We have to learn to tolerate being "in process" in order to achieve the really big goals in life. Demanding too much too soon is destructive, because we might give up if we don't get the immediate results that we desire. The tradgedy is when we give up!

Learning to plug along, day after day, working towards a goal - even when it seems that we aren't making progress - is key to success in life.

Think of a seed planted in the ground. There is a process going on under the earth, even though we can't see or perceive it. Something important is taking place that will eventually allow the little plant to burst forth into the light. Even then, we won't see fruit immediately. If we plant a tomato seed, the plant that eventually pokes up above the ground is not a round red tomato. If we stomp on it in disgust because it isn't a tomato, we will never reap our harvest! We must allow the seed to germinate, to grow, to bust above the ground, and turn in to a tomato plant. It will set buds, create flowers and then create hard tiny green balls. Eventually those will develop and grow into the tomatoes that we seek. At any point in that process, we could give up, cut the plant down and curse it for not giving us what we want. How smart would that be?

Likewise in life, many endeavors require diligent effort and attention OVER TIME in order to eventually produce the desired results.

Never give up... and keep working towards your goal, regardless of what is happening around you!