Episode notes
Growing Slowly Isn't the Same as Going Nowhere
Have you ever stood in front of the microwave watching the countdown? One minute. Fifty-nine. Fifty-eight. Suddenly sixty seconds feels like an afternoon. You know perfectly well staring at the microwave won't make it cook faster. But we stared anyway. Apparently, we believe our supervision is essential. And aren't we like that with life? We want everything quickly. We plant something today and want results tomorrow. But some of the best things develop slowly. Coffee is a wonderful example; did you know that elevation can influence the coffee-cherry development? Many Arabica coffees are grown at higher elevations. Cooler conditions associated with altitude can slow the maturation of coffee cherries. That slower development can contribute to characteristics producers and roasters value in the finished coffee. In other words, slower isn't automatically worse. Sometimes slower development is part of what makes something special. That's worth remembering when life seems to be taking too long. Maybe you're building a business. Learning something new. Working toward a goal. Repairing a relationship. Or simply trying to become better at something you started yesterday. We tend to compare our progress with everyone else's finished product. That's never fair. We see somebody's success but not the years behind it. We see the beautiful cup of coffee but not the coffee tree, blossoms, cherries, harvesting, processing, shipping and roasting that came before it. Good things often have a story behind them. So if you're working toward something and it feels slow, don't automatically assume nothing is happening. Growth isn't always loud. Sometimes it's quietly developing where nobody can see it yet. That's a perfect thought to enjoy over a cup of Espíritu-de-Colombia Decaf when you want the coffee experience without making caffeine the star of the show. Sit back and remind yourself: I don't have to finish everything today. I just need to keep moving. One step. One decision. One day at a time. And perhaps we should stop staring at the microwave. It clearly knows what it's doing. Visit Cager's Coffee Hut at www.cagerscoffeehut.com, and remember to keep brewing kindness one cup at a time.