Past Choices Affecting Future Possibilities?

I hope your week's gone well -- mine's been pretty busy; returned from vacation on Wednesday, then have been trying to catch up ever since.

Disneyland was really nice -- I've always thought Disneyland was much higher quality than Disneyworld although it was much smaller. However, I've also always felt that you felt much more of a Disney "experience" at Disneyworld over Disneyland. Things have changed a bit, though The area surrounding Disneyland now fits well and feeds into Disneyland very well. This helps you feel more surrounded by Disney -- much like you are when you're at Disneyworld. Plus, the new California Adventure park right across from Disneyland adds a number of nice rides and attractions. My daughter and her friend pretty much spent their entire time at California Adventure riding the roller coaster and the Tower of Terror. We old folks enjoyed finding the Muppet 3-D show and also really enjoyed the Soaring Over California attraction (you feel like you're hand-gliding over California).

We also enjoyed the Disney Village right next to the two parks. Little Richard was playing at the House of Blues in the Disney Village the day we arrived -- we weren't able to make the show, though. Darn!

We old folks spent most of our time in Disneyland. Rode "Small World" more than once, too. I just really enjoy the quality and attention to detail you find in Disneyland. The best ride may be the Indiana Jones ride (they don't have it at Disneyworld), but my all-time favorite is the Haunted Mansion. I've been spending a lot of time on the Doom Buggies site -- a tribute to the Haunted Mansion attraction -- have learned quite a few things, too! Oh -- they've also made "Captain Jack Sparrow" more of a player in the Pirates ride!

One big difference (other than size and quality) we found between Disneyland and Disneyworld is that Disneyworld is for smokers, Disneyland isn't. We never saw anyone smoking inside the parks themselves and only saw two or three smokers outside the park the entire trip. Disneyworld is a far different story -- it seems like almost everyone is smoking. The cigarette butts in the street (and on the rides!) really stack up by the end of the day.

All in all, it was a fine trip; if you have a chance to visit the Disney parks in Anaheim, I highly recommend you do so! I think you'll really enjoy them!

We'll again pull two cards -- the first suggests something we should focus on for the week. The second suggests things we might consider in order to fully benefit from the attributes of the first card.

The cards are:

Ten of Wands (Reversed)

The Lovers

The Ten of Wands reminds us that we sometimes have to work really hard to get what we want -- or to get where we want. Another word for this is struggle! It's nothing to take personally -- but it is true that long and tough effort is often the asset most needed to accomplish our desires.

The problem with long and hard effort is that we can become discouraged -- we may feel we'll never reach the end. In fact, when we look forward it might seem all we see is more hard work waiting for us -- there's never an end!

When we face this sort of discouragement, I always suggest we ask ourselves two questions: First, can you honestly say you've really been trying? Second, if you feel you have made an honest effort, then have you made at least some small progress somewhere? If you can honestly say you've tried, and can recognize even a teensy bit of progress, then you know you will succeed eventually. Sure, it would be nice to finish everything all at once -- but the really important thing is that you will eventually win. It doesn't matter if it's long, time-consuming, or a grind -- the end result is what's important. Dont' be discouraged simply because something seems difficult -- the Ten of Swords reminds us not to quit when times seem tough -- and to be confident in your ability to reach your goal.

The reversal here likely suggests we may find ourselves concentrating on the "grind" portion of a task rather than the end result. Let's see how our next card can help.

The Lovers is really a choice card -- we have a chance to make a choice that will affect the outcome of our struggle. In fact, I often see The Lovers as suggesting a choice that we've either already made or a choice that we're leaning towards making.

When we put these cards together, can you see how choices you've made may affect your efficiency in meeting your goals? If you see choices that are affecting you adversely, remember that choices are not static -- you can change or alter them. You don't have to abandon them -- but they may need some tuning! When times seem tough, consider changes you may be able to make that will help you better face your challenges -- always look to strengthen and better yourself!

And that's about it this week; I look forward to seeing you again next week. As always, if you're interested in a private reading, please check out some of the super readers I work with at http://www.woodsongtarot.com/readers.html.