Some weeks are like that ...

In the cycle of life some weeks are just more demanding than others. The week past was challenging for me.
I had a heavy cold. It was like one of those New York storms that circles around. You think it has gone away, but it swirls back around one more time. Head ache, sore throat. It leaves, you feel moderately better, then comes a runny nose. That goes, but is followed by a head ache, sore throat, and then another runny nose. Miserable!
It was an important, exciting, and busy week at work. We're hiring a new professor, a new colleague. A week of interviews and meetings on top of my normal teaching and committee schedule. High energy needed, much focus and concentration—difficult with the heavy cold.
And then the snow came. All the schools in our area closed. Cornell University and Ithaca College closed. I had to drive through the snow; a white out, each way. Snow and more snow. It almost doubled the driving time. That was tough when I just wanted to be in bed, snuggled under the quilt. 
In the middle of the week Jane and I took into our home a twelve year-old foster child with significant mental and physical disabilities—a challenge all of its own.
The busyness combined with the illness played havoc with my normal routines and disciplines. By the end of most days I felt exhausted, collapsed into bed, and woke all too soon to the sound of the alarm at 5:45 am.
How do you keep a spiritual balance in a week like that?
I have to say with some difficulty, but it's possible. Reflecting on the week, here's my thoughts:
a) Don't fight it. Many have been the times when the unexpected has thrown me off balance. I had a plan, and the plan was disrupted by some circumstance. I mumbled and grumbled, and complained and belly-ached. Circumstances don't go away by fighting them. I am learning not to fight the unbeatable—hitting your head against a brick wall only hurts your head.
b) Rather accept it for what it is. Life is changes. Some you can foresee, some you can't. Positively, I am learning to roll with the changes. When life assaults with yang, roll back with yin. When life brings yin, it's time for a little assertive yang. Last week was over the top yang! Conscious yin, yielding to the situation was needed in abundance. If the universe brings yang and you respond with yang it's a tough wrestling match and the universe usually wins.
c) Manage the changes as best you can through your spiritual practice. This is tough when the busyness of life squeezes out your regular disciplines. Then you have to be creative and find novel ways to nourish the inner journey. But find them you must, or else face emotional burnout or spiritual bankruptcy.
On one evening drive home, I found myself listening to the final program on BBC Radio 4 before the national anthem—the extended shipping forecast. The shipping forecast on this evening was read in a silky voice doing the rounds of the British Isles and Ireland with expected weather conditions over the next twenty-four hours. I hadn't heard the shipping forecast for years, but it was strangely comforting. I was looking out of frosty windows, the heater barely keeping up with the defrosting, driving slowly through a blizzard, with no visible markings on the road—a complete white out. The lilting voice said, "North Utsire, South Utsire, Fisher, German Bight, Dogger, Tyne, Humber and Thames ..." with a string of numbers that mean something to sailors, but not to me. It went like this, "Low Malin 946 expected Fair Isle 957 by 1200 tomorrow," or else "Viking, southerly or southwesterly 6 to gale 8, rough or very rough, showers, good." It was a strange but comforting experience, as if I too was on the open sea tossed by waves and lashed by rain, but safe in my little boat. The meaningless words acted like a mantra playing over in the car. On that night the BBC extended shipping forecast helped me center, focus, and enter the zone. It may not have had that effect on any other night, or for any other person. But, for me it was  a creative and unexpected gift.
d) I have been living for the last few weeks with the notion of surrender, "Not my will but yours," "Deo Volente," "Insha'Allah," "God willing." It is the practice of letting go, surrendering to the love at the heart of everything. It has helped.
+Ab. Andy