I don’t have to have this all solved today.

Ask what actually has to be true by tonight. Not the situation. Tonight. The list is usually embarrassingly short: one call made, one thing eaten, one person told something. Four items at the outside, and not one of them a resolution.

The rest runs on a scale of months and cannot be finished in an evening, however many hours you lie awake offering. Nothing is gained by the offering. The months take months.