This is Day 24 in my 30-day blogging journey.

The “why” of the journey is on Day 1.

I am typing this blog on a computer which is relatively fast.

It’s fast because it has enough processing speed, memory and not too much data on the hard drive to make it sluggish.

If I have to restart the computer, it restarts quickly because the hard drive is a solid state hard drive which makes the computer more efficient.

Some day, this computer will not be as fast as I want it to be.

And on that day, I’ll call Mike (my computer guy, friend and client for over 13 years) and tell him I need something faster.

Because convenience matters.

And speed makes things convenient.

When I was growing up and I wanted to watch my favorite television show, I’d have to wait a whole week for a new episode to premiere.

That was the norm.

Streaming television not only gives us access to television shows right.this.moment. but we rarely have to wait anymore.

Now, we can receive one whole season at a time and binge our way through it (where did the last four hours of my life go?)

Should I even mention Amazon?

But of course.

Remember when Prime shopping meant you’d have something within 48 hours?

Now, Prime shopping can be same-day, next-day or (sorry!) more than 48 hours to be delivered to your door.

So, Prime shopping can either be very convenient or not-so convenient depending on what you order.

Yet it still saves you the trip to the store (or sometimes three stores because the first ones didn’t have what you needed in the color, size and shape that you wanted).

That’s probably convenient.

What about our food?

When we (the fickle public) had no time for a home cooked meal, we wanted TV dinners.

When we no longer wanted TV dinners because we were crunched for time or variety, we had drive-thrus for food.

And now that we can’t (or don’t want to) leave the comforts of our home or office, we have Door Dash, Uber Eats and more.

Because convenience matters.

We will pay a premium for convenience.

Fast computers, fast internet speeds, fast streaming devices, fast food, fast delivery services…

In a world where we have been spoiled by convenience, it’s no wonder we get so discouraged by the things which take time.

And we get frustrated by things which require patience and tact and thought.

Can’t you just solve my problem for me now?

And that’s the thing: Some areas of life can’t be solved like that.

When you start a business, what you want is to be an overnight success. You want to open your doors and know that people will come in droves once your OPEN sign turns on.

But it probably won’t happen that way.

You’ll hustle, you’ll grind, you’ll lose sleep, you’ll skip paying one bill so that you can pay another until you’re comfortably working in the green.

You might find a marketing avenue that helps you generate leads or interest faster but, for the majority of businesses, success won’t be fast or convenient.

Parents make a lifelong commitment to their children.

That’s years upon years of attention, care, and sacrifice to give your children a life that you (and they) can be proud of.

There’s little convenience to be found there.

If you want to improve your physical body by any measure; via fat loss or by gaining strength, it’s a lifelong endeavor.

You’re constantly exploring the range and depth through which your body can perform.

You may have the convenience of a gym nearby but the work you have to do is anything but convenient.

It’s arduous and it can be painstakingly slow.

As one of my former clients (Hi Kim!) asked a few years ago: Can’t I just drop my body off to you and you can give it back to me when it’s in the shape I want it to be in?

(Respectfully) No.

Take a moment and look around you at all of the amazing things we have access to through convenience and efficiency and the luxuries of speed. Cherish those things.

And at the same time, cherish the fact that those other areas of life will take more time than you expected, will cause more frustration than you anticipated and will arguably have more value to you than anything that would have come more conveniently.

(Photo courtesy of Arwan Sutanto)