“It takes time” is not a comforting thing to say anymore.  Especially in our instant gratification world where we have fast food, fast connectivity, fast and often abbreviated  correspondence and then, we think everything should be even faster.  We complain if our computer runs a few seconds slower than it should or if our food isn’t waiting at the window when we drive around the corner at the drive thru.  Why the thrill with fast, when good things happen to those who wait?

Like relationships.  Oh sure, you can get a pretty good feel about a person pretty quickly, but given time, a person who may have completely annoyed you at first glance may grow on you.  If you give the relationship time.  Time gives us the opportunity to get so much deeper than just the surface information.  Sure, I’m a libra and like long walks on the beach, but do you know my joys and struggles?  Do you SHARE my joys and struggles? Of course time gives you the opportunity to WORK on things as well, so perhaps it’s working within the extended time that actually improves the relationship.

And then there’s food.  Words like simmer are meant to invoke the slowing of time.  It takes time for flavors to meld, to work together into something truly mouthwatering.  That frozen chicken tender thrown into the deep fryer, not so much.  Good cooking takes time and WORK.  It may be meaningful work or cathartic work or joyful work, but it’s still work.  Have you noticed that both “time” and “work” are four letter words?  Perhaps that’s why we try to avoid them.

To a young person, sometimes “giving something time” can be downright annoying.  Or in the case of struggling with something, “giving it time” can be discouraging.  We want things to happen or change overnight, we want to be the instant expert.  Just give me a list of things to check off, I’ll do them and I’ll be able to do anything.  Perhaps.  But will it be done well?  Will it have the richness of something that builds up over time, like experience?

Teaching is one of those things that takes time to learn.  I was told once upon a time that it would take me ten years before I would be truly comfortable walking into any classroom and doing my thing.  I balked.  I was annoyed.  I was impatient.  And in the end, I learned that only with work and time does a teacher become an artist.

As I have the opportunity to work with student teachers, I find myself pushing with some urgency because I know how hard the work is and I want so badly for them to be successful when they begin their careers.  I want them to be adequately prepared so that when things get hard, and they will, they won’t want to run away from something that with time, will be one of the most rewarding things they will ever do.  It’s that fine line of knowing I only have so much time to get them prepared, and knowing that once I do, it will still take another decade of simmering before the dish is perfect, so, much as I feel that urgency, I can’t rush this.

Anything worth doing, like cooking, building relationships and especially teaching, takes time and patience.  At different times in our lives, we may want to do something different or learn something new, but do we give ourselves enough time to really embrace it and make it worthwhile?  Are we doomed to be a part of our immediate gratification culture or can we slow ourselves down and enjoy the ride?  Give it time and make it worth the wait.