"We're not in a hurry even though we're going fast." - Mike Fincke, Expedition 18 Commander

One thing life has going for it is tenacity. It's said that succeeding often consists of rising just one more time than you fall, forced from a core of focus into strong resolve. I'm so encouraged these days I find myself lip-biting to keep it under control. The darkness before the dawn can conceal the most ironic vulnerabilities, and to face it steadfastly takes determination, especially among the oppressed facing no solace from the faithless.

There's an old engineering joke that says the first 90% of the project takes the first 90% of the time. The remaining 10% takes up the other 90% of the time. (Got time to do it over? Then ya got time to do it right the first time!) Reaching the 90% mark is a momentous milestone to be sure, but most climbers don't settle for just most of the mountain. The struggle goes all the way to the top.

At the closing-in point those worked and reworked tendrils of toil and conception begin to perceptibly coalesce into more than a combination of individual elements, each corroborating the new whole. (I have no doubt this mirrors cognitive processes inside the sentient brain though I lack the vocabulary to elucidate my hypothesis.) This is something of an inverse effect to the uncanny valley, that point in development known in many trades and professions as the "sweet spot."

It's that point in the game when you know you're going to win. It's that point in a story when you're sure of how it ends. It's that point in a project (or life) when those problems of responsibility remaining before readiness fall within one's ability to correct. Fresh answers emerge as the remaining pieces make their way into the puzzle. The challenges of the universe go from previously insurmountable to imminently doable, as patterns emerge as parts of a solution with an almost inexpressible efficacy.

One key that resists being summarized to a contented life is recognizing and appreciating the various sweet spots that are our individual blessings. For some those are so few and far between their burden is not to lose sight of hope forever. And for some so spoiled by lucky circumstance they think themselves immune from any onus of gratitude. But for most this can be (and should be) a daily exercise, an earnest expression of faith that patience and perseverance are at last acknowledged and welcomed as allies.


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