Everything I need to know about life, I learned from Varnishing

You're prepared. You're focused. Relax. Begin...

When you're working with varnish, you can't stop if you mess up. You just keep going until the end of the coat. That's the wet edge.  The result is a culmination of your present state of mind and your ability to accept whatever happens and not dwell on the past or the future. That's how you get a good coat. You begin, press on, do your best, stay focused and if you mess up, live with your mistakes... until the next coat (and there is ALWAYS another coat).
Then you sand, and try again...

Just like life, right?

Pura Vida was peeling through to the wood. So, it was heat guns and scraping, sanding and taping, then weeks of kneeling in the brightwork prayer. We came to enjoy crouching in unnatural positions for hours,  maintaining a clear mind and steady hand. What initially seemed like nerve-wracking physical torture grew into a sort of varnish-induced Zen meditation.

TEN COATS SEEMS LIKE ALOT UNTIL YOU REALIZE IT'S ONLY THE BEGINNING.