The beauty of waiting

When young Florentino sees beautiful Fermina, he vows to love her eternally. But as he is poor, the girl is married off to the rich and famous Dr Juvenal. An undeterred Florentino tells his uncle he will wait for Fermina's husband to die so that he can marry her. It is a crazy idea. Suppose Dr Juvenal lives to be 90? No problem; Florentino will still be waiting! It is the loads of patience that I love most about Florentino's character as portrayed in the movie Love in the Time of Cholera. For to be willing to wait for as long as it takes to win your prize is admirable especially in this day and age of quick fixes.

Loyal Gunners! Congrats on winning FA Cup

 When I consider the taunts Arsenal fans suffered for not winning  anything in nine years, I doff my hat for Florentino who waits for 51 years, nine months and four days before Dr Juvenal dies. For the Gunners the long suffering ended last Saturday when we came from down to lift the FA Cup. The victory was worth savouring seeing that Hull City stunned us with two quick goals before we recoved and conquered.

In my mind resonated the words of a fellow optimist who said it is not over when you lose games or trophies; it is over when you lose faith and hope. This is true in all endeavors. Jose Morinho branded

Arsene  Wenger "a specialist in failure" but Wenger went on to win FA Cup while the self-proclaimed 'special one' won nothing for Chelsea. Likewise Florentino was a commoner but his over 50 years of patience won him his true love. Are you willing to wait for as long as it takes to fulfill your dream?