Decisions, Decisions ...

Hi!

Hope everyone had a wonderful week last week -- for many of us, it was a Thanksgiving holiday.  For my family, that means great food, great naps, football, and the movies.

We saw "Catching Fire" on Thursday -- really enjoyed it!  I didn't see the Hunger Games, but have read all the books.  The movie was pretty faithful to the book, so had no trouble following it.  I don't get out to the movies all that often, so this was a very pleasant time.

My older son's getting out of the Navy this month.  He had 30 days of leave accrued -- but Navy rules say that he can't take them all at once -- so he came home for two weeks, then is flying back for a week, then is taking the rest of his leave while he's being discharged.  It's been nice to have him home -- in fact, both sons will soon be out of the Navy  (youngest already is).  It was a good experience for both of them and really helped point them in the right direction.

Went and did the nerve test for my hand problems (if I'd have known how much it was going to hurt, I might not have done it) -- they found  some pretty severe nerve damage in both arms.  Haven't talked about the next step yet, but will probably opt for the surgery.

I'd usually be more "talkative", but typing is kind of difficult (well, typing is actually fairly easy.  Hitting the right keys is pretty difficult!) right now, so will be kind of brief.  My apologies; hope to make up for it after my hands are working again.

Almost done -- "Dickens on the Strand" is this weekend in Galveston!  I'll be down there doing tarot readings -- if you're there, come by and say "Hi"! (look for the green-and-red booth -- I think I'm in location 716)

Okay -- time for the reading!  We'll draw two cards -- the first offers something for us to think about, the second suggests things we might consider when doing so.

Our first card is ... The Two of Swords.

The Two of Swords is a decision card.  It suggests times when we're faced with having to make a decision about something -- likely a difficult decision.  What most of us do when facing a weighty decision  is to "stall" -- we're not sure what to choose, so we put it off and don't do anything.  We might say "I'll think more about it tomorrow" or "I'll decide later", but what we're really doing is stalling.

The thing about stalling is that it in itself is a decision -- by not choosing anything, we're committing ourselves to a course of action.  We're having to do whatever it is that happens when we don't choose our own course!

In my mind, it's always better to make your own choices rather than have them be made for you. 

What's the worst that can happen?  You might make a poor decision?  So what if you do?  You just correct it, change your mind, backtrack, solve the problems ... and learn from your decision so you can make a better choice next time!

What do we have to help us make our decision?  Let's look at our next card -- the Nine of Pentacles.

This is a card of comfortable affluence.  This is a person who's made wised decisions based on their personal financial and physical welfare and is enjoying the results of these wise decisions.

What this suggests is that we really take into consideration how our decisions may affect our personal fiscal well-being.  Rather than just going on "gut-feeling", maybe we should run some numbers to see what makes the most sense.  Having issues with the old car and want a new one?  What will is cost per year to maintain the old one?  Will it be more than the payments (plus maintenance) for the new one?  Should you spend a bonus on spiffing up your wardrobe -- or pay off a credit card  instead? 

What will aid you most in the long run?  Sometimes the "wise" decision isn't the "fun" one -- take a little time to try and identify  what makes the most sense.

And that's it for now!  Have a great week -- I'll try to catch you again before "Dickens"!

Woodsong