You Know the Answer!

Hi All!

Hope your weeks been doing well -- I've been in a training class most of the week.

I have to admit that most of the training classes I've been in during my professional life haven't been all that useful.  They may have introduced an interesting idea or two, but most of the time was just thumb-twiddling to fill up the schedule.

This class was an exception -- practically every minute was loaded with great information.  I'm really thinking I'll be able to apply everything I learned to be more effective. 

Wish there were more like that!

On to the weekend reading!

We'll start with ... the Nine of Swords.

Some folks see this as a really negative card -- but I normally see it as just describing a real situation.  We've seen this card fairly recently -- it suggests "worry" -- the kind of worry that might keep you from sleeping -- you just can't stop thinking about a difficult situation.

I don't see this as a negative card because it honestly describes something we all face.  Every one of us has gone through this before -- and we'll go through it again.  We can always anticipate facing a vexing situation that causes us anxiety.

And this is okay -- it's okay to be concerned about a problem.  What we want to be wary of is not moving from that "worry" state; we instead should look for ways to resolve the situation.

Sometimes that means we try to solve the problem -- sometimes that means we learn to accept the situation -- and sometimes it means we try to find an alternative and leave the problem behind us.  No matter what we choose, we need to move on.

How can we move on -- well, let's see what our second card suggests ... the King of Swords.

I may have said this before -- whenever I see the King of Swords, I see my Dad glaring at me after I'd done something really stupid.  He's asking "Why did you do that -- you knew better!  You knew what that right thing to do was!"  And ... he was right.  I did know what the proper course of action was -- I just didn't take it.

This King always knows the right thing to do.  He doesn't care if it's a difficult thing -- if it's the right answer, then it's the right answer and that's all there is to it.

What this means is that when we're faced with a worrying problem -- in the back of our minds, we know how to solve it.  We just don't always want to listen to ourselves -- because maybe the answer is too difficult.  Doesn't matter -- if it's the right thing to do, then it's the right thing to do!

When you think about it, it's really silly to agonize and say "What should I do? What should I do?" when you already know what you should do.  What you're really saying is "I know what to do, but I'm reluctant to do it."  That's okay -- but it's a completely different situation from the first one described.  You're not worrying about the problem; you're worrying about being able to implement the solution.

Be honest with yourself -- when faced with a difficult situation, can you see the right thing to do?  If so, then don't worry about the problem any more -- instead, start working on how you can achieve the solution.

That's it for now -- hope you have a great weekend (and it's a long weekend for many of us!  Hope you enjoy it!)

Woodsong