Two of Wands - Are You A Conscious Choice Maker?

Here we see Chiron the healer and teacher in the cave, well hidden from view. Jason stands with two burning wands held on either side. Jason has left his more base behaviours behind thanks to Chiron, and come out into the light on his own to face the world, to decide what direction he will take.

Behaviour that is part of our the human nature we all possess, often referred to as being our monkey mind, that behaves according to a fight or flight reaction, is instinctual, and somewhat opposed to the intellectual or intuitive and moral direction. But we all have choices to make in spite of our basic instincts.

We all can find ourselves in situations where humans are behaving badly, my mother use to call it "cuttin' up your didoes," it is displaying some kind of foolish and destructive antics in other words. This saying is of unknown origin, but related to the Greek legend of Dido, who committed suicide after she'd been abandoned by her husband. Bad behaviour stems from deep hurt of some kind. The bad behaviour can become so convoluted, that most of us have a difficult time feeling much compassion or understanding for another with whom we just want to get the heck away from, or we want retaliate with similar reactive behaviour.

Christmas seems to bring out the worst or the best in folks, being a time when emotions are often close to the surface. Many are of us are stressed, overtired, overwhelmed, and over spent. We can be depressed by unrealistic expectations never fulfilled, and wound up tight as a drum. Someone is sure to get their underwear in a knot, and then next thing you know, there's a big blow up.

Many adults I know that grew up in alcoholic homes, can recall how the Christmas tree often got fired out the door, and onto the street. Fortunately this is not one of my unpleasant memories.

We have a choice how we respond to someone else's bad behaviour when they are cuttin' up their didoes! We can react in kind to their inappropriate actions, which only escalates matters, or we can extend a hand of understanding and kindness.

Dido

This was my experience Christmas Day with another behaving badly. I offered understanding, and a big hug. I was then was shown tears and appreciation for doing so. It was an important lesson, for me mostly, on "becoming a conscious choice-maker."

"By becoming a conscious choice-maker, you begin to generate actions that are evolutionary for you and for those that are around you. And that’s all you need to do." ~ Deepak Chopra

Knight of Swords - How To Be Your Own Heroine/Hero

Many years ago I got my SCUBA certification. When the idea was first presented to me, I wasn't a willing participant, and made excuses why I couldn't possibly do this, because well I was afraid, though I loved the water, and swimming. It was free training through the military, and so in spite of my reservations and reluctance, I went ahead and before I knew it, I was enrolled. It was hard work and we were really put through our paces, with  a lot of challenging tests.

Bar none, the biggest test for me was overcoming my panic. What can kill divers is panic. I think this can be related to pretty much everything in life. And so this was made very clear to us at the very start, that we had to get a hold of our panic. When we did our open water dive with our instructor, this is what he was looking for in our eyes, panic.

I was able to overcome my fear by taking control of my panic, and after several weeks of rigorous training, I finally got my certification. I can't exactly explain how I did this, but I know it was about facing fear head on. And I'm sure all that breathing into a regulator attached to my oxygen tank, and being underwater puts everything into slow motion. All you hear is the sound of your breathing, which is very meditative, and you're in the zen zone.

 It wasn't that fear was absent, but I refused to let it it control me. I was stubborn, and began to instinctively look on this as an opportunity for personal growth.

The Knight of Swords portrays the twins, Castor the mortal, and Polydeuces the Divine. It's a card of courage, adventure and change. Having a sense of adventure and being open to change can make us better people. When we can temper our intuition/emotion with our rational/intellectual mind and visa versa, this can help us to be aware of our behaviour and our mortal and divine nature.

By not allowing ourselves to be ruled by our reactions to situations when the old monkey brain kicks in, creating a scenario of fight or flight, we can gain control of ourselves.
 Learning how to SCUBA dive was a really important life changing lesson. I learned how to have courage, and to be open to change.
 Getting out of our comfort zone, and doing the things that we often afraid of, is what enables personal growth. This has been my own personal experience, time and time again.

Learning how to be our own heroine or hero is one of the best things we can do for ourselves. Sometimes it's a matter of saving ourselves from ourselves.