I’m not sure if the saying originated with the Romans, but I grew up hearing, “Rome was not built in a day.”

I heard it from my dad. I heard it during village meetings. I heard it during sermons.

This morning, as I brushed my teeth, a startling realization struck me in its pure simplicity. Put plainly, it means “Life is not a quickie.”

Taking on the role of CEO at Breadwave, I quickly realized that a flood of executable ideas can feel overwhelming. However, by breaking them down into manageable steps and tackling them piece by piece, the outcomes can be truly remarkable.

The Romans were essentially conveying that the construction of Rome was accomplished in gradual, incremental steps.

Daily additions.

If life were condensed into a single day, it would feel dull, overwhelming, and uncomfortable.

And I’m thankful that humans are not designed for such extreme physical compression. Attempting to stay on your feet for over 24 hours without even a brief rest invites exhaustion—and possibly worse

The organic feature of life enables us to appreciate the verbs of our existence.

Forming. Tooling. Re-tooling. Transforming. Recanting. Improving. Growing.

These things aren’t done in bursts like quickies. They unfold gradually, allowing life to grant us the space to embrace the wisdom gained through the challenging or joyous journeys that shape the outcomes.