Take Time for Yourself First!

I hope your week's gone well; I'm back in San Mateo this week. I understand I'm missing the heat and humidity back in Houston while I'm just suffering with this wonderful California weather! I don't feel guilty -- I figure I'm way overdue for it!

I habitually make the rounds of used bookstores -- I quite often purchase books, then toss them in a "to read" stack so I can find them when I need them. I grabbed a handful of books at random before I left Houston. I finished the first (history about Charles II), then reached for the rest to pick one. First book -- well, what do you know? This one's about Charles II, too. Dont' want to read that. How about the next -- whoa, it's about Charles II also! Down to the third book -- and I'm afraid to look. Good reason, too -- it's also about Charles II!

I don't know how that happened! I like English and Scottish histories -- I must've found each book on separate days (or weeks, or months!), bought it, then forgot about it as they sat unread in the "to read" stack!

I was lucky on the last book -- it was about Henry VII!

Let's get started with the reading!

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.

Our cards this week are:


The Empress






Seven of Cups








Our first card, The Empress, is a Trump card -- a Major Arcana card. These powerful cards generally suggest things very imporant to us. I always see The Empress as a family card -- as seen from the perspective of a loving and caring mother.

In this sense, it suggests the warm feeling of knowing that you are loved and cared for. It can also suggest the same warm feeling of loving and caring for those close to you. We might consider that this reading may reflect on our family.

How can we best enjoy and appreciate the aspects suggested by The Empress? How can we improve our familial situation?

Let's look at our next card, the Seven of Cups. I was reading a post on a Tarot website where readers talked about Tarot cards and music -- the premise was that people associated certain songs with particular cards. I always think of "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables (or, if you prefer -- as sung by Susan Boyle!) when I see the Seven of Cups. The character in the Robin Wood version even looks like Fantine to me!

Some people see the Seven of Cups as a weak card -- because it refers to dreaming about things rather than making them happen. I don't agree with this -- I see it rather as a very important preparation card -- it helps us focus on things that can motivate us.

In fact, things move so quickly in our world today that we find ourselves reacting to things all the time -- as a result, it's difficult to really take the time to sit and think about ourselves and the things we appreciate. There's always something else demanding our attention -- making us guilty if we reserve a little bit of time for ourselves.

This is really a counter-productive attitude -- we should be our most important project! I mean, we spend time and money maintaining our car and doing maintenance on our homes ... why not spend quality time keeping ourselves operating well? We may be taking care of our physical selves, but our spiritual and mental self is equally important.

A little time reserved for communing with yourself, for evaluating situations and your feelings, and for planning your future activities, will pay off splendidly! And what kinds of things should we concentrate on?

Well, The Empress has a strong suggestion -- how about our families and friends? Why not spend a little time thinking of how we can improve things -- and there's always room for improvement! Don't just sit back and react to things as they come up -- spend a little time thinking and planning, then take control and make the right things happen!