And There’s Nothing I Can Do About It Now

Coming back from the best performance of Les Mis I have seen to date we slipped Willie’s album, A Horse Called Music in the dash. An old, old friend and we know every song by heart. The play? Well, sum it up this way: I started to choke and tear up in the first 2 minutes and didn’t finish until after the final “curtain” went down (the theater has no curtain, more like in the round). The theater is one of a few they have and it is a small venue. Maybe 200 seats? We were in a 4^th row from the stage and slightly above the stage, which was the floor of the theater with some low risers. The music was live and the cast was a mixture of local Orlando talent and Broadway veterans like James Beaman, David Gaines and Michael Hunsaker. It was unbelievably real. I doubt that we will ever see a mere “play” done like this again.

And on the way home we listened to Willie. Many of the songs he does express some of my philosophy, and this one has not one but two punches. The first couplet is this:

                          And I could cry for the time I've wasted
                          But that's a waste of time and tears

I once worried about time wasted, but as the line goes, that is a waste of both time and tears. Why? Because there’s nothing I can do about it now. Learn, modify or not, and move on. It took a while for me to learn that, but it sunk in in the last 30 years of so. This is one reason Sally and I take life as we do: Don’t wait. Do it now.

The other couplet is this:

                          I'm forgiving everything that forgiveness will allow
                          And there's nothing I can do about it now

I have forgiven and asked for forgiveness for all I can, and from whom I can. Some was easy and some was very hard. But after you forgive yourself, in order to live at peace, you have to give and ask for forgiveness. Ah, but there are some things in life, at least in my case, that forgiveness will not allow. Those few things remain unforgiven or unasked. Still, I let them go, mostly.

Why? Because there’s nothing I can do about it now. But I can do this: If any reader has been harmed by me, I beg you to forgive me. And if any reader has harmed me, I forgive you. As I age, my memory necessarily fades a bit, so forgive me if you can, for not remembering any slights, intended or perceived.

1. Willie Nelson - Nothing I Can Do About It Now Lyrics | MetroLyrics 

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