It Is Written

"Maktub," the merchant said finally.
"What does that mean?"
"You would have to have been born an Arab to understand," he answered. "But in your language it would be something like 'It is written.'" And, as he smothered the coals in the hookah, he told the boy that he could begin to sell tea in the crystal glasses. Sometimes, there's just no way to hold back the river.

~The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

(I know this isn't what he meant by 'It is written,' but my thesis is finished-- all of the text, the footnotes, and the bibliography. And maybe, just maybe, the possibilities of life will open themselves this year. No way to hold back this river.)