Rumi, Goals + Steps

Will I achieve all my goals this year? Well, most likely not but I will achieve far more of them this time than last year. That’s a definite.

Rumi_12SwordsToday’s card is from a deck I just adore. There’s a part of me that yearns to relive my life that I must have lived in the Orient. I am so drawn to all things of this nature. I don’t know what it is.

Do you have a place that does that? A time or area of history that just calls to you? I do. I have two. One is Elizabethan England (and I have a past life memory of that that is hysterical and SOOOO not what I expected!) The other is China. I’m not as sure of the era as I haven’t done work there.

Grin. I know one or two of you rolled your eyes at me just now. Past life? Really?

Yes, really.

But what I want to address in this post is the Knight of Swords energy. The Rumi quote

“May God give you prosperity: then you will have already achieved your aim.”

is a bit of strange one. What does our mental guy have to do with prosperity? Isn’t that the Knight of Coins purview? Well maybe it is, but then again if the Knight of Swords keeps his thoughts on his aim, he will gain more than even the most studious of Coin armored guys.

Why?

Because he can see where he is going. He is focused. He has aims. He has achievable steps to reach his goal. That’s something I’m seeing so much on blogs right now. Everyone is interested in telling you (selling you) their way of achieving goals. Hell, even I’m doing that with my constant mention of this which really is all that…

BUT

What is at the core of any of this–mine, hers, his, theirs, yours?

Your individual dedication to your individual goals. Have you written them down? Have you listed the steps you need to take to get them?

I have (because of that ) and one is already in the bag. Another from last year was put on the back burner because I didn’t think I could do it. I wasn’t convinced enough in my own aim to write it down with actionable steps. So it kind of floated into nothingness.

I have to put that back on my list. With steps to achieve that goal.

Will I achieve all my goals this year? Well, most likely not but I will achieve far more of them this time than last year. That’s a definite.

So what goals will you write down? How many steps will each take? Dream big, darlings. Dream big. I’ll be telling you soon about my first big goal that has come to be already. Promise.

Knight of Swords, Guide to the Rumi Tarot, Llewellyn, 2009

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

Grief, Windows & Curtains

Today’s card is a reminder that even in times of grief, there is hope. Here we see someone sobbing into their hands. He’s suffered an unimaginable loss. He is at the window and once he’s released that grief, he can look up and out.

When he looks up and out, he will see hope and possibility. He will remember that there are others who need him. He will be able to draw the curtain on this particular pain and move on.

Yesterday I learned of the death of someone I used to know. He was the son of someone who has become family to my family. I babysat for him while his dad dated my mom. That dating didn’t last, but the friendship did.

One thing I learned from my mother was how to maintain caring relationships past the point of being lovers. Not an easy thing to do when we grieve so hard over the loss. If you love and that love leaves (or you leave that love), it hurts. Even if it was the appropriate reaction–it still hurts.

When you find yourself in that position, remember that you can allow yourself to grieve because there is a window waiting for you. There will always be a window to show you hope and possibility. There will always be a curtain to draw over the grief so that it can fade into the past.

Be gentle with yourself and others today. Remind them that you love them–even if it makes the squirm with embarrassment. It’s important, y’all. You never know when that kind word will help ease some grief that they hold in secret.

I love you. Each of you. I’ve pulled the curtain over many a grief in my life as have each of you. Make sure the curtain stays down. Don’t keep peeking back into the dark, okay? Look out the window instead.

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

3 of Swords, Rumi Tarot, Llewellyn, 2009