A friend and I were chatting about what “success” would look like for each of us, when she said with passion and longing in her voice, “Oh, if only I could just snap my fingers and BE there!” Be there. Be successful. Be at the finish line.
It wasn’t long ago that I would have whole-heartedly agreed with her 🙂 But it was different this time. The heart-response (my immediate response that welled up in my mind without my even thinking about it) this time surprised even impatient me….my heart response was,
If I snapped my fingers and was suddenly THERE, what would I DO with myself every day?!
It reminds me of raising my kids. Sure, there are days when I wish we were in a different place….somewhere in the future where there is no teenage attitude, homework, messy (again?!) bedrooms, or non-stop driving around to deliver the kids to yet another activity. But man, I don’t wish their childhood away…..not for a second! All that hard stuff comes with so much sweetness, that it seems sometimes that my heart could burst with the joy of it. It’s not easy, but it is so very worth it!
Raising up a successful business is a lot like raising babies.
You lay a solid foundation of learning and discipline and consistency.
Then you begin to place bricks….day by day, you build on the foundation..
Sometimes it seems like growth is agonizingly slow….but then that baby rolls out of bed one random Tuesday morning, and they’ve grown 2 inches in their sleep!
Every now and then there’s a particularly difficult day….there’s a broken arm…some knocked out teeth….a skinned knee…a broken heart….a fender-bender. This is the time for extra tender-loving-care and nurturing. Extra love and patience and conversations about the choices we make and how we’ll do better next time because now we know better. It was a painful lesson, but important.
I was trying to figure out how to write this post without using the terribly cliche line about it being “about the journey, not the destination”….but man, you guys. It is SO about the journey!
Parenthood is not about waking up one day and having an adult child looking at you from across the table.
And building a successful business is not about snapping our fingers to find ourselves at the finish line.
It will some day be fulfilling and rewarding to have healthy, mature, amazing, contributing adult children….and it will some day be fulfilling and amazing to have a mature, profitable, impactful business.
But do you really want to wish away all the in-between time? Do you really want to live for “some day”?
As I sit here and write with my littlest kiddo snuggled at my side, I can say with my whole heart that I wouldn’t, even for a moment, take a short cut to the finish line. From my perspective as I sit here and breathe in the sweet smell of his head, and giggle at his silly jokes….it’s clear…
The only thing a short cut offers is an opportunity to miss the really good stuff.
Cheers to your journey, friends — soak it all in and enjoy the view! oxox Daiq
