It takes time to build great things

On a recent trip to Cádiz, Spain, I visited an amazing cathedral and learned that it had taken 116 years (a hundred and sixteen!!) to build it. As I admired the stunning detail of the exterior as well as the internal architecture, replete with cupolas, gargoyles, stained glass, and statues of saints, it brought to surface a very simple but important truth: it takes time to build great things. No prefab-design execution on this one, no strict deadlines, and certainly minimized egos needed to be involved...ones that understood that the legacy and appreciation that would be associated with their efforts (and the project's completion alone!) would likely only come long after their time. Experiencing first-hand what an impression this colossal construction makes engenders confidence in doing things correctly and not rushing to complete something for completion's sake. And when you think of the daily grind of it all- the labor in executing such a vision, the precision which this necessitated, and the coordination that such an undertaking entailed, the builders perhaps couldn't even have known how much their work would be enjoyed later on. Or maybe that is just it: they did.