Everything takes time.
Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Words that will follow you on the journey of chasing your dreams.
Everything does take time. And it is true that Rome wasn’t built in a day. But that tells you nothing about the ugly part of the journey where it’s no longer just the bricks and raw materials but it’s not quite the finished product of what it’s supposed to be yet.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour – another version I heard that I thought hit the nail on the head. No zero days. Even if it’s just a brick a day I thought.
But this version doesn’t quite tell you about the part of the journey where you haven’t laid a brick in days, weeks or even months and you forgot what exactly it was that you were building to begin with.
The beginning.
That is always a good place to start. When the journey seems like it is derailing or the vision seems to be zoning out of focus, go back to the start. Remember what it was when you started it and why you started it – even if the vision has evolved or pivoted along the way. This will serve you as an anchor to keep you grounded when confusion or discouragement comes – because trust me, it will.
Learn to love the place you are in – now this (to me) was great advice. I had gotten in a real rut and felt like I was juggling 101 things because more often than not, we don’t always get the luxury of only doing the things we love to do because life gets in the way. We have jobs, education, families, and all sorts of responsibilities. I certainly was not enjoying the place I was in. But I learnt that one of the best ways to navigate these muddy waters was to atleast try. To find small joys and wins in the process.
Whilst it is good to go back to the start, you must also look to the ending.
For me, trusting the process feels like looking at the pieces from a God's-eye-view. Imagine if you knew for 100% certainty that everything worked out. That somehow and some way, everything fell into perfect place. Then rewinding the movie to see how it all fell into place, and instead of worrying about writing the plot or fussing and fighting over the characters, you just get to sit back and enjoy watching the storyline. That is what I have understood trusting the process to be.
It is already written.
Trusting the process also means understanding that you can’t give your all to everything at the same time. A priority in one season will have to take the backseat in another. It means accepting help along the way and in turn, also accepting that some of the work can only be done by you because ultimately, it’s a journey to your dream and no one else can see the vision the way you do. Embrace it all.
Finally, excellence doesn’t start when the lights come on. It is prepped and pruned in the background and in the shadows.
Trusting the process means tending to your garden even when the flowers aren’t blooming yet. It means building good habits and taking pride in what you do even if nobody sees you or claps for you. Because the beauty is in the process and not in the applause. It is in taking steps out of your comfort zone and following the dreams that you have been called to.
Remember these things as you run your race and as you do so run it well, with patience and perseverance as you go on your way. You’ve got this.
Love,
Aimee