Tuesday 8/28/12

Good Morning! What a hectic week we’ve had so far. So hectic that this is the first post this week from this reader. Hope that everyone is enjoying the approach of fall as the days get shorter and the temperature drops to a more comfortable level. Today we’re going to hear from the Vision Quest Tarot.

Ace of Air (reversed) – Inspiration, divine coincidence, mental clarity – No time to waffle, or compromise! Your newfound clarity enables you to discern between what is needed and good and what is useless and inappropriate at this time. Since you have found your inner balance, you can act decisively. Problems will be assessed and solved much more easily from now on. Confidently make the decisions you have thought about for a long time. The answers are now obvious.”

Each of us carries around our own little tool kit. In each of these kits is the ability to make the decisions that will best affect our lives. If we only open the “box” every once in awhile to see what tools we have, we know exactly which one we have available to us. This may sound a bit cliché, but it’s true. We each have the ability to look at a situation whether it be directly related to us, to someone we love, or someone in the world that we’ve never met and discern how it’s going to affect us. We don’t have to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. Many of us get so caught up in the day to day bad news from the media that we forget to take a look at what is right in front of us. Or we have friends that are in need and we want to so desperately to help, but we can’t.

We have the ability to know exactly what we should be doing, when we should be doing it and how we should be doing it. It is up to us to make sure we are looking at the situation and discerning how much we should get involved. There may be a small roll that we are to play in it, but it may not be our place to see it through to fruition. We may have the catalyst that someone needs in order to start making their own decisions and not doing it for them could be something that is quite hard for us to do. We are all fixer-uppers so to speak. We have certain innate abilities that we can share with others and many times we want to fix the problems for that person. Or fix the problems in the world. Are we to fix everything that we see that is wrong? Are we to step in and do things for other people that they are not willing to do for themselves? We can provide them with our knowledge, but it is truly and ultimately up to them to decide what they are going to do with their life!

If you are out of balance, and you see someone in need, ask yourself this question. Should I be helping them when I’m not even at my full potential right now? Is my intervention going to cause more harm than good? When we are out of balance, out of alignment, or simply uncentered we have the potential of misguiding or going at a situation with the wrong attitude or energy. This makes sense if you think about times when you are really frustrated, hungry, or tired and you try to do something. In these times, do you find it difficult to accomplish the task? Do you find that your patience levels are too low in order to achieve the goal you’re trying to reach? Do things break because you are ill-tempered? Looking back at these times put a friend in the place of the item you are trying to “fix”. What would you do if you harmed them the way that you harmed the item? Better to realize your own limitations and know when it is appropriate to act.

When you find balance or know that you are in balance, the projects, assistance to others, and your over all health are more focused, centered, and refined. Knowing that you cannot do something takes an immense amount of strength and courage at times. We all want to help whenever someone calls, but if we can’t, we have to be gentle with ourselves. There may be a situation that you are just to listen to the situation, give a small amount of advice, and move on. Don’t guilt yourself into thinking that you should have done more. By accepting your limitations and being completely honest about them is a huge help to the person who is reaching out. They may not realize it or think ill of you because of it, but that is because they are in the midst of their own struggles. They may lash out at you or just think that you don’t care. This doesn’t have to be the case at all. You do care; you just don’t have the means to provide to them what they need. And that is OKAY!

All of this may seem like it is moving away from the meaning of the card, but if you think about your own mental clarity and how it can affect others it will make sense. You’ve been looking for answers to leading better, more fulfilled lives. By knowing your limitations and what or whom you should be helping is one more step on that journey. We all only have so much energy. There is only so much time in the day. And we must remember to take care of ourselves. If we don’t, there is danger in taking care of others. It may not be apparent immediately, but eventually it catches up to us. And if you look at these times you’ve had in the past, you’ll see that this is true. The times when you’ve been the most tired are the times that you are in the most demand. The times when you’ve exhausted all your patience or energy are the times that you need it the most. Accidents occur, fights emerge, tempers flare, friends lost, and a plethora of other things can happen and usually do. Then the guilt kicks in and we start knocking ourselves down.

Learning your own balance is vital to preventing these kickbacks. Knowing your limitations is so important to your own well being. It’s been repeated several times in this very post, but it is so important to know. You can say no. It is a difficult word when you see someone hurting. They may not accept that you can’t help them, but that’s ok. You can only do what you can do. If your health is not up to par, accept that and don’t allow guilt to bring you down. You do what you can. There is no shame in taking care of you. It actually sets the example to others that they can do the same. It may not seem like it, but it helps to plant a seed of knowledge that they have the opportunity to fertilize and allow growth.

The world is a heavy place and our shoulders can only take so much weight before they collapse from the strain. It brings our emotions down. We find our energy gets drained reducing our endurance and charisma. And our health can take a huge assault. We have the ability to discern what we can and can’t do. With this knowledge, we can put it into our tool kit along with the other tools we’ve been discovering along the way to our true Selves! Use the tools you’ve been given. Don’t let them collect dust or get rusty. They were forged specifically for you. Putting them to use will help others gain the confidence to use their own. It’s truly magical to watch as it all unfolds. And worth the faith to see those in your life make strides to open their toolboxes and get to work. Don’t believe me? Just watch!

Je Vous Aime Tous!