Self-Care, Self-Love, & Patience

This week's cards rock, on toast, with sugar-free, all natural jam.

The first card: Two of Cups. This card is all about connection, sharing, a soul-to-soul union. If the past comes calling (and by "the past," I mean an old lover/partner/boyfriend/girlfriend/snookly, and that person gave you warm fuzzies and you parted on good terms with love in your hearts, then by all means, consider giving it another go. If not, why then stay on the lookout this week for someone who will trip your "Universe Is Smiling On This Union" switch. Be careful not to jump guns, but seriously, this could be a beautiful foray into a whole new dimension in love.

If that "holy crap, how am I going to handle all this love coming at me" thing doesn't happen, then it's really time to look deep into your soul and see what you need to feel loved, cared for and joyful. Need a foot rub? go get one, or heck find directions on how to give yourself an at home foot spa treatment. In fact, here are some now: http://skincare.about.com/od/caringforyourfeet/ht/footspa.htm. Take the time to decide what you need and then do a wee bit of research and you will move toward that goal.

Tuesday, especially, you will want to practice self-care. If someone starts giving you grief, walk away. Don't engage. They aren't worth it. You deserve better and you know it.

The second card: Queen of Cups. Self-love in all its glory. What does it take to get us to go deep inside and find that small, secret, scared part of ourselves and then nurture it (which by the way is a revolutionary act)? What do we need in order to show ourselves compassion? How far down the road of stress and unhappiness do we need to get before we cut ourselves some slack? This is your mission should you choose to accept it.

This week: Be Kind To Yourself. Love yourself. Give yourself frequent breaks (particularly if you live in the really hot parts of the world. It's brutal out there and we have shorter fuses when nature is being extreme). Drink deeply from life's well, this week. Spend time in repose. Allow yourself to feel, really feel, what's going on inside. Figure out your needs and try to meet the ones you can meet. You might not be able to meet them all right now, but that doesn't mean you won't. And this way, you will at the very least have a set of needs identified. Once you have that, the rest becomes all about finding new and creative ways both to love yourself and to move forward on your path. Oh, and creativity plays a big role here. Be unapologetic about what you create. You are the artist of your own life and don't you forget it. Oh and for you artistic, creative types, now would be a great time to break out your old copy of Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way" (or check it out from your library) and work through the book. You will be delighted that you did.

The third card: Temperance. "Be patient" is one of the worst things you can say to me. WTH?? I want it (whatever it is) and I want it now. The need for patience makes me want to tear out my own hair. I chafe about it. I gnaw and gnash over it. I am not good at it. And you know what? This week, the universe just doesn't give a flying rat's butt. This week (and perhaps longer, darn it) it's all about patience. Things come when they do. And it's our job to get over ourselves, sit down, hush up, and wait for the signal. We will know it when we see it. And it will come.

Be excellent to ... yourself!

Today's Cards: Queen of Cups, Seven of Rods, Eight of Cups. These speak to me of patience, of no regrets and of winning battles. What a fascinating combination. The Queen always speaks to me of creativity, compassion, and kindness. Since she is the the Queen, she also indicates that we should be showing that kindness and compassion toward ourselves. It's often easier to extend ourselves to others, to help them, to be there for them, but we often find it much harder to extend that same sense of patience and  compassion to ourselves.

So, today, I ask you, what is it that would make you feel cared for? What would it take for you to feel pampered and treasured? A bubble bath? Eating healthy food? Playing with markers and crayons and drawing your wildest and most fantastical imaginings? What do you need? See, here's the thing. Generally speaking, we do a lot of the must do's and need to get done's but we dont' spend time on the want to do's or wish to get done's. So, take a minute. Decide for yourself what you need and then go spend a little time on that.

I encourage you to do this because the Seven of Rods says you'll win the battles you need to fight. You've got this. So, don't worry. The Eight of cups says, you can feel free to walk your path without regret. You are on the right track even if you sometimes feel like you are walking an alien landscape. That landscape may look alien now, but it won't for long. All will be revealed if you keep following your deepest sense of self. Your desires, provided they are in your highest good, are on their way to being fulfilled. Treat yourself well, and it will happen.

Ouch! you stepped on my feeling toe!

You who are on the road, must have a code that you can live by. CSN had it goin' on with those lyrics. And not only that, but that whole learn from your mistakes thing is a great idea for today. The cards are: Page of Swords, Hierophant, and Six of Cups. So, today is going to be about editing, self-editing. Have you learned from the last bit of chaos that swept through your life? If so, what did you learn? Figure it out. Write it down. Learn from it. If you didn't learn, then that exact same set of crud is going to seep into your life like a flooding basement. It'll come on little cat feet, and it will kick your butt. So, take the time today, be that person who steps back and looks at past errors and then learns from them.

Some of this stuff we were supposed to have learned when we were kids. "If you borrow it, give it back." "If you took it out, put it away again." If you stepped on someone's toes, say you're sorry, and if you hurt someone's feelings, do the same. That last one was mine so it's not a quote, but I find it oh so true. So often, if we hurt someone physically, say we step on someone's toe, it's absolutely easy to see we've done it and absolutely automatic to apologize. The apology is accepted and we all move on, acknowledging the accidental ouch. But, when we step on someone's emotional toe (go with me, here) why then everything gets much tougher. For one thing, we don't always know we've done it. Most of the time, when we physically step on someone's toe, we get an indication. We get an, "Ouch!" The same doesn't hold true for feelings. I believe most of us haven't been taught that it's okay to express those feelings as immediately as an "Ouch!" But oh a more honest world we'd live in if we did.

So, I'm giving you a three-part mission today. First, learn from your mistakes. Second, if you step on someone's emotional toe, say you're sorry. Third, and this is the biggie, if someone steps on yours, don't brush it off. Don't bury it. Instead, say, "Ouch! that hurt," and see where it gets you. The people who love you will want to know and will want to honor your feelings, and likely apologize. The people who don't want to acknowledge that they've hurt you, well, then you have a ton more information about them than you did just seconds before. And that brings us right back to learning from our mistakes. Are you in a pattern where your feelings aren't being respected? If so, your mission becomes more and more clear. Today will be the day to stand up for yourself and do something about it. It might hurt some in the moment, but boy will be better for you in the long run.