Be Strong ...

Greetings!

Hope you had a fine weekend and that your week's begun well.  I worked a lot on a new tarot booth for the Renaissance Festival.

There's a saying in woodworking -- "Measure Twice, Cut Once".  My version is "Measure Twice, Cut Once, then go back to the store and buy more wood because you messed up the cut."  My first attempt had the dadoes going in the wrong direction (dado == those little notches you see on the ends of Lincoln Logs).  Mine were angled and I did the angles pointing the wrong way.

My new version won't use dadoes.  I'm not even sure if I'm spelling it the right way!

On to this week's reading:

Our first card -- the Ten of Swords.

We've seen this card fairly recently.  A lot of people gasp when they see the image -- and it does look a little grim!  Really, though, this card has a positive message.  It suggests those times when you feel everything is going wrong and that things cannot possibly get any worse.

And this is good news?  Yes, it actually is!  If things cannot get any worse ... then that means they can only get better!  Any movement has to be an improvement.

So -- don't get discouraged when things don't seem to be working out.  You CAN move on to better things if you try.  It's when you get discouraged and don't try that you get in trouble.

But what can you do to improve things?  How can you gain a positive outlook when things seem to work against you?

That's where our second card comes in -- the Hermit!

Another card we've seen recently.  The Wise Old Hermit is patient, thoughtful, and realistic.  He's not going to go off on tangents when he gets bad news.  He knows that bad news happens to everyone ... we shouldn't take it personal.  He knows that what we need to do is move forward to make things better.  Sitting still and moaning about things won't accomplish anything; we have to put on our big kid pants and take control.

So -- when things aren't going your way, don't let it throw you off track.  Don't shut down and huddle in a ball -- look up and forward, take control, and make things better!

Be strong ...

Woodsong