Thursday, April 7, 2011

4/7/11—Having What it Takes

Today's Draw: The Woman of Shields from the Healing Earth Tarot. Are you a little unsure as to whether you have what it takes to complete a project you've undertaken? Or are you currently on a journey of some sort and are thinking you're all alone?
The Healing Earth Tarot has six suits, so it doesn't correspond to a traditional deck. Shields is the suit of earth, but the Woman of Earth only roughly corresponds to the Queen of Pentacles.

The Woman of Shields comes here to tell us that we wouldn't undertake any task we don't have the resources and abilities to complete. She reminds us that we're not alone, we undertake every task in partnership with our higher power, as well as our higher self. There will be signs and assistance along the way to guide us on our course. And we should also honor this task, not only in pursuit of its outcome, but also as a pursuit into getting to know ourselves better. So along your path, remember to ask not only about the signs you may missing that are pointing you in a certain direction, but also ask what new or seasoned part of yourself the journey is revealing.

The Woman of Shields doesn't guarantee your success. She just says you have what it takes to complete a project. We tie up so much of our energy in winning or losing, success or failure, that we often forget there is no such thing as loss or failure. Some journeys we undertake are not about what we think they're about. And if we're not aware of all that's going on inside and outside us, we may miss the gift. A "failed" relationship yields personal growth. A "failed" project yields new contacts and new skills. Because we don't have the entire story of our life laid out before us, we're not really in a position to know why that "failure" came to us. And, in the extreme, we end up focusing on the failure, missing the gift and then, in our ensuing negativity, ignoring the opportunity that comes our way.

EVERYTHING is a gift. You will not be put on a path that leads to nowhere. And you are never alone because your God is with you. The skill to learn is how to surrender to all of this and trust. A brief example is my job search 15 years ago. I went on many interviews and crappy agencies loved me and good ones didn't. The last straw came when a creative director I admired looked at my portfolio and ripped apart an ad I wrote and conceived that won one of the world's most coveted creative awards. If I didn't have faith and the confidence in myself and my path, I would have just taken one of the crappy jobs and be done with it. After all, if this guy thought my best work was crap, then I was doomed. But I was so riled up that afternoon that I said to myself "screw it, I'll become a freelancer." Huh? The thought had never occurred to me before, but the second I thought it, it felt RIGHT. It's a really scary thing for a single person to do. But worst case scenario was that I "failed" and took a job with a crappy agency. Why WOULDN'T I pursue this? Only fear would hold me back. Anyway, within a week of having that thought for the first time, I gave my notice at work. And within a month of starting freelancing, I was earning more than any of the jobs I interviewed for were offering. Fifteen years and two recessions later, I'm still here. And all the contacts I made in the first 10 years of my career have provided me with a steady stream of work.

You never know why things are happening. But if you trust that they're happening for your higher good, you'll receive riches beyond imagination. You are on this path for a reason. Win, lose or draw, you can trust that.

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