It’s been a rough week around here. Not “people dying, children starving, hurricanes hitting” rough. Just “deadlines looming, plumbing breaking, house projects overwhelming” rough. Or, more simply put, “stupid first world problems” rough.
Then, of course, I—being the hyper-organized, super-scheduler, over-planner that I am—had to go and make it all the rougher by sweating and fretting about All The Things. And I do mean All The Things: All The Things I have planned; All The Things I don’t have planned. All The Things I need to do. All The Things I might not get the opportunity to do. All The Things that might change. All The Things that might not change.
It’s perfectly insane, and I am aware of this. But it goes with the territory of being me. The same organizing skills that enable me to juggle a dozen different writing projects, plan big, fancy parties, and keep a house looking all pretty like are the same skills that allow me to whip up my very own stress tornado—a whirling vortex of anxiety where I see All The Things forever and ever coming at me.
I’m actually a lot better about avoiding that vortex than I used to be. But better isn’t perfect, so from time to time, I find myself borrowing trouble from tomorrow, only to discover (surprise, surprise) that such borrowing is a very bad idea. God doesn’t give you the grace to bear tomorrow’s troubles; he only gives you the grace for today’s troubles…or sometimes just the moment’s troubles. All attempts to borrow beyond the day inevitably result in just more trouble.
Occasionally, however, they also result in Cashew & Salted Caramel Ice Cream Cake.
