A Sufi Tale for the here and now
Nasruddin went to a tailor with a piece of cloth and asked the tailor to stitch him a shirt.The tailor took his measurements.
“When will it be ready?” Nasruddin asked the tailor.
“God willing, it’ll be ready in a week’s time,” said the man.
Nasruddin could hardly wait for the week to pass. On the morning of the seventh day he hurried to the tailor’s shop. He was bitterly disappointed when he learnt that the shirt was not ready.
“God willing, it will be ready the day after tomorrow,” said the tailor.
Two days later, Nasruddin was again at the tailor’s shop. The shirt was still not ready.
“God willing it’ll be ready on Saturday,” said the tailor.
On Saturday it was the same story.
“God willing…,” began the tailor.
“Stop! Stop!” said Nasrudin, now thoroughly fed up. “Tell me, how long will it take if you leave God out of this?”
I so delight in these ancient tales, and I often find them applicable to my own life. Take my online workshop as an example. Although I don’t bring god into it, it is taking me way longer than I had ever imagined.
I was initially nonplussed about getting this ready to go, since I was clear on what I wanted. It is a labour of love. I know the material. I could visualize it working. And I wanted it to be useful. But then, reality set in, and I saw that what I wanted was way more challenging to put into this self-study program than I realized.
Getting Things Done
So, here I am, working on my third version. It can be challenging to let go of hours of focused work and start over. Nevertheless, I think of my Mother when she was knitting Harry Potter scarves for her great grandchildren two years ago.
She was 97 at the time and had never used circular needles. I recall her telling me that she had started over seven times with the first scarf. Hours and hours of work and a year later she had completed and mailed seven scarves, complete with crests and in the colours of their particular houses. The scarves are beautiful and every stitch is imbued with love and meaning. It will be a photo op at her 100th Birthday coming up next year.
Just so you know, especially those who have been asking me about my course, I have not changed my mind, just changed the date. I think this latest version is closest to what I had envisioned. (God willing or not) :-))
Life is full of interruptions. We all have many competing purposes and our own fears. With the best of intentions, some things will never get done. Wholehearted Living Workshops is not one of those. I am committed to bringing this project to the light of day.
Happily I am ready with some of the extra elements like podcasts and webinars. Furthermore, I am confident that since you have now given up hope of ever seeing this course, I will get to surprise you, when I tell you it is done.
Spring is a great time to revive, revise or create something you may want to send out into the world. As Neil Gaiman says:
“Go and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious mistakes, and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here.”
Note1) I wish you so many lovely spring moments. Blue sky and sunshine make the whole day better.
Note 2) “There is no innovation and creativity without failure. Period.” Brene Brown
Note 3) I appreciate you taking the time to read my blog posts. Warmest wishes to all, Trudy
Note4) I have several books of Sufi tales but I used the version here from a website called English-for-Students.com With thanks.