What's wrong with being slow?

The words of the president (Jorge Sampaio) run through my mind as I try not to drown in the amount of things I have to do which are a thousand times worse because of the red-tape and queuing (and queuing and queuing) that I have to do in the coming week.

"If we do not have hope, we will be overwhelmed by concerns."

I have come close to losing hope that I will ever be able to get my bureaucracy and finances in order. I would like to find out if anyone has managed to be legal, creative, entrepreneurial and foreign in Portugal.