It took me about 10 years to make the first short story sale. Admittedly, during some of that time, I wasn't writing a lot of short fiction but I did write some. And there's at least one story from about 10 years ago I'm still pretty proud of and wonder if I should try and submit it again.
From when I finished writing "Last Respects" to selling it, it took about 4 months. 1 rejection, and then I sold it to PP. (I don't know if that qualifies with what you're looking for since PP isn't a SFWA recognized pro-sale. I don't think any of the EA podcasts are, although WotF counts them because of the sheer amount of downloads they get.) The first sale is bliss.
The stone hasn't become dislodged, but it's not stuck as good as it was, if that makes sense. Within that two year time-period, I've sold three other stories and reprinted LR once for a sale. I did get solicited to write a story for VF (Saint Darwin's Spirituals), though, and the editors there liked it enough to pass it onto Murky Depths so they could co-publish it at the same time, and pay me. So there have been nice little boosts. But keep in mind that within that same two-year period, I've collected 53 rejections.
So, yeah, I don't know how much easier it gets. I still get a shitload of rejections. I'm still trying hard to improve my game. And despite having a few small sales, the majority of it is steeped in rejection. You just have to keep grinding it out and get your story in front of that one editor who likes it as much as you do.
(And I'm sure you will, because you're a good writer.)