Five of Swords - Acceptance

I have hairy toes! I've never admitted this publically, but I've come to accept it, and no, I am not a hobbit. But even if I was a hobbit, I'd have to accept this too.

We all have to accept our limitations of what we can and cannot do. This is what the Five of Swords represents.
It can be difficult to understand or empathize with another person's struggle in life, unless we have had a similar experience, or unless we have walked their path, or seen the world through their eyes.

 Many of us experience rejection for one reason or another. It may be for the way we look, how much money we make, our race or religion, who we are related to, or what side of the tracks we grew up on.
The worst form of rejection I would say, is not being able to accept ourselves, the positive and the negative aspects of our personality and circumstance.

I have come to believe that acceptance is the key happiness. It enables us to understand, and to come to terms with people, places and things. When we can accept, and love ourselves, we become real like the Velveteen Rabbit.


 “Real isn't how you are made,' said the Skin Horse. 'It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.'

'Does it hurt?' asked the Rabbit.

'Sometimes,' said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. 'When you are Real you don't mind being hurt.'

'Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,' he asked, 'or bit by bit?'

'It doesn't happen all at once,' said the Skin Horse. 'You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.”
― Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit