Seven of Pentacles - Do you Know What Your Answer Is?

This has been a month of decision making for me and the cards I have been drawing daily, have definitely reflected this.

I see this decision making theme once again in the Seven of Pentacles, upon seeing today's card where Oueen Pasiphae is wanting to make an offer to Daedalus he can't refuse. Daedalus already has lots of golden coins, (Pentacles). However she's got another one in her hand to freely give him, none the less for a price he may not be prepared to pay.

When someone offers you something that sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

 I have  generally found this to be one of those truisms in life.
This past week I was offered one of those kinds of deals and honestly, I was tempted initially until I gave it careful thought. I concluded in my heart that is wasn't a good decision for me realistically, because I'd be in a worse case scenario financially, then what I am in presently.

That said this is the kind of society we live in today. There are various modern day snake charmers offering big things, with a big price that is often hidden or we rather not think about because we are reacting emotionally.

When it comes to money, and consumerism, we live in an economy that is credit rich and cash poor.
Taking a page from my grandparents book of debt, thinking about how they lived, and remembering what my mother once said. "If you don't have the cash to get a bargain, it isn't a bargain."
In those days, there were no credit cards, which I think now are mostly misused and are the scourge of our economy, affecting people and our world on so many levels.

This card has the message not to react impulsively. Care and forethought are necessary in order to make the right decision.

Every situation and person is different and so perhaps the question to ask is, am I going to be further ahead if I put my energy into a new project or should I continue to develop what I have already worked hard at in achieving.
I know what my answer is. Do you know what your answer is?

  

Seven of Pentacles - Difficult Decisions

 
Set backs in life happen, that never changes, but what does hopefully is our attitude. Once we are recovering from them, we are now getting to the point, are being rewarded, and are feeling fulfilled for our efforts. It would be easy to become complacent, to simply enjoy our success and recognition. But now, we have difficult decisions to make about our future, as like Daedalus, we are offered a proposition, which can manifest our creative energy, and it may be better than our present situation.We might want to make the safe choice, however this can lead to a stagnation, limiting, or hobbling our creative growth.

Having a mid-life crisis happens to all of as at some point, and it can place us in the crossroads. When we arrive at this point, and we do want to make a decision, but it seems like we are damned if we do, or damned if we don't. We are bound to disappointment, infuriate, or hurt someone, what ever we decide. And so, we must decide who we are going to piss off. We certainly can't please everyone ,  as Ricky Nelson said in his song, " You can't please everybody, so' you've got to please yourself ", and accept, if not be comfortable with our decision, live with the consequences, whether they be positive or negative, and will more than likely will be tinged with both, more or less.
But don't get caught up in the drama, allowing yourself to be a victim, and a casualty, on the front lines of someone else's war. You will not be thanked, and you will be wounded.

I have experienced several of these mid-life crisis, or had to make serious decisions relating to my happiness, and peace of mind. I do not regret the decisions I have made. I am very grateful for them. Oh yes, if I had to do things over, I would have chosen to act on certain things differently, but I can't, and don't regret the past. What I can do is be decisive, act on opportunity, and do the right thing. It's not always easy, but I do not want to allow myself to be hampered by fear, and guilt. I do not want to be a guilty bystander, watching life go by from the sidelines.

 I know I will be confronted again with difficult decisions. But now, with age and experience, has come knowledge, understanding and wisdom. These are the tools I have at my disposal, to use when these crisis arise again, and I know they will, but I feel more prepared, than when I didn't know better, to do better. I try to apply these skills on a daily basis as a kind of insurance, or bank account, to build up resources in strength, so I can get through the life's crisis, big and small, whenever they land on my doorstep.

Be patient with yourself, with others, and with life. You have tools at your disposal. Use care and forethought. Don't wear yourself out with worry and regret. Save your strength there is more work ahead,  Life may be tiresome, and hard but it is still very beautiful.

Seven of Cups - The Creative Dreamer

The Seven of Cups augers an emotional situation that needs to be tempered and balanced with reality. , Here in this Minor Arcana card Aphrodite confronts Psyche with the tasks she must perform to win back Eros and is pointing to the seven golden cups. The number seven is the number of creativity, and represents the creative dreamer.

It is essential that we have realistic dreams. I believe they come for a divine source. Prioritizing, and learning how to fulfill dreams, is often what counts if we really want something badly enough. We can't achieve our goals having fantasies, pipe dreams or illusions. As well, too many possibilities and options can be problematic, and overwhelming. So, we must decide what it is we want, and don't want.

 I know creative visual imagery is an extremely useful tool, in order to actualize our dreams. I do however have to work hard to eventually lessen the existing gap between fantasy and reality, if I want to succeed in making many of my dreams come true. Being distracted by flights of fancy is not something most of us cannot afford.

Often through difficult and hard lessons learned, there are dreams that may never be able to be realized, and we have to accept this fact. Other dreams however can change along the way, and there is satisfaction and fulfillment that can be found in what remains. There are limitations to reality.

It's vital to believe, and have faith in ourselves, along with our ambitions, hopes and forethought, that enable us to reach our goals through commitment to hard work, and to perform the tasks at hand. Patience, faith, and perseverance are necessary to manifest the potentials and capacities, and will give us structure and direction.

Believe that all things are possible.