No longer in the urgent grip of lust

It takes time to build valuable things.

Fruitful growth is slow. Even if we are driven by the ecstatic urgency to give rise to that which is new, whatever it is we want, it’s guaranteed to take longer than we’d like.

In my twenty years of experience recording albums, publishing books and producing films, there’s no doubt in my mind. Having patience is frustrating, depressing and most notably, expensive.

But the paradox is, once we accept that anything worthwhile takes forever, once we realize that we need to be profoundly patient to realize the rewards of almost everything in this life, then we can actually relax and enjoy the scenery.

As opposed to obsessing over our boiling pot thinking, man, it’s been months, this isn’t working, let’s try something else.

Not so fast.

Castaneda, the legendary author and anthropologist, wrote a beautiful mantra about this issue:

All paths lead nowhere.

Sounds like nihilism, but it’s actually quite the liberating notion. His words reminds us to delight in the moment, embed as much bliss into the pavement as possible and forget all about where we might end up.

Because this journey is going to take a long ass time. Much longer than we want it to. And how silly would we feel if months or years or decades down the road, we looked back and realized that all we did was piss and moan the whole time about how long everything was taking? What a colossal waste.

Therefore, joy is the ultimate insurance policy. It’s the only return with no investment. The only bet with zero downside risk.

And once are willing to be aware of all the good that already inside and around us, then nobody can spin this into us losing or failing.

Take a good look at the dashboard folks. Because the meter isn’t running. This trip is a flat rate.

And everybody pays the exact same price. Nothing. All roads lead to nowhere.

Are you at peace with the time it takes to do something right?