Young man, why wilt though haste so fast? Thy vessel sails the open sea, and the harbor to which I am steering thee is still far off. – Ovid
Ovid was a Roman poet who lived from 43BC to 17 or 18 AD. He was very popular, but for reasons History has chosen not to disclose, was exiled from Rome by Augustus for the last decade of his life. Even casual reading into Ovid’s life gives reason to believe exile might well have happened because Ovid put moves on one – or more – of Augustus’ women, but this is mere speculation.
Young man, why wilt though haste so fast?
It’s human nature to want to accomplish things. It is equally human to want to accomplish them today or tomorrow.
This is not the way the world is generally built, however. Most good things take time. They take planning and then the plan must be executed with diligence, courage and patience. Then you have the fact all of us are leading completely random lives and success of any sort involves no small amount of good fortune and good timing. We must be at the right place at the right time, ready to seize the opportunities that present themselves.
Life is a relentless instructor and patience is one of its greatest lessons, as important a factor in success as talent and execution and we have found the happiest lives are lived by those who realize this and have the patience to allow what was meant to happen in their life happen.
…the harbor to which I am steering thee is still far off.
It’s a long life so let’s not be in too much rush to get where we are meant to go. Life has a variety of lessons to offer us and it’s important we learn each one. When we do that, and we follow our hearts and trust our instincts, we will find our path will take us exactly where we were meant to go.
