Insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster

did ya miss me? Ah, g'wan, you know you did.

It's been a hectic week. Not in the frustrating calm-damaging way that has afflicted friend Sunni, but busy busy busy. Got a lot done, got a lot left undone. A good conversation has ensued in the comment section to Sunni's post.

I like Michael's "I.B.M." approach:
Insh'allah
Bukra
Ma'alesh

Picked it up in Egypt quite a few years ago and it manages to get one by. Insh'Allah is just what it seems like. "Insh'Allah it'll get done". Fate, Ba'al, Hern, Allah, the Universe whatever...

Bukra is just Egyptian for Mañana. Didn't get it done today? Bukra, Insh'Allah.

But my favourite is, by far...Ma'alesh. Sh*t happens, don't worry, can't be helped, never mind.
Let's face it...no matter how much we plan and schedule, stuff happens and everything gets re-prioritised whether we like it or not. Stressing about it doesn't do us any good. Tomorrow is soon enough to get it done.

That's the frame of mind I've been in the last few days. That one project was due Wednesday and didn't get done until Thursday? Yeah, but it got done, and I like the way it turned out. Other stuff has gotten in the way of the plan for the week? "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

Yep, I yearn for the time, energy and resources to handle everything I'm trying to juggle - did I mention all this is happening while I attempt to revise a novel into podcast-worthiness? - but I use the time, energy and resources to handle what I can, and the rest waits. The stuff that's important, that'll get done in its time. It always does.

I love the mantra in Shakespeare in Love voiced by the beleaguered but calm stage manager Philip Henslowe:

Philip Henslowe: Mr. Fennyman, allow me to explain about the theatre business. The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster.
Hugh Fennyman: So what do we do?
Philip Henslowe: Nothing. Strangely enough, it all turns out well.
Hugh Fennyman: How?
Philip Henslowe: I don't know. It's a mystery.

God, I love that movie. Because the production of a play is a beautiful metaphor for life itself: We are always negotiating through "insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster," and yet the show goes on, because it must, and we survive - only once in our lives does it actually kill us.

Oh, I waste my share of time mourning for what woulda been, what coulda been, and what shoulda been - too much time. Sometimes the woulda-coulda-shoulda overwhelms my calm - doesn't just damage my calm, but throws it to the ground and stomps it to pieces.

It's those days when I can release the regrets for what could be and accept what is that I find myself most at peace. No, strike that, your honor: The most-at-peace days are when I both accept what is and accomplish something that was important. Maybe it wasn't the important thing I wanted to get done, but it was important. How this happens, I'm not sure. It's a mystery.