Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks

From the Art of Life Tarot comes the Page of Wands (detail from The New Armor by Franz Meyerheim):

It’s never too late to be what you might have become. ~ attributed to George Eliot but actually from Dinah Mulock Craik

I wonder who is teaching whom – perhaps the page knows more about this new-fangled armor than the knight does. But can you teach an old dog new tricks? In the television show Mythbusters, Jamie and Adam took two 7 year old Alaskan malamutes who didn’t know any tricks to test this theory. Although these dogs are known for their stubborn streak, after four days of training both dogs could heel, sit, lie down, stay and shake upon command. I think learning to reinvent yourself probably has more to do with attitude than anything else. If I’m determined to do something new, I probably have a good shot at doing so.

From the Tao Oracle comes the card “The Attraction of Opposites:”

My husband and I are good examples of opposites when it comes to how we do things, yet our values and ethics are very similar. Still, even the simplest things (how to prepare for a trip for instance) underscore our differences. But we’ve remained married all these years because we each understand how we can balance each other out – one’s weakness is the other’s strength. But every now and then, one of us will be convinced of being right while the other is wrong. In combining these two cards, I am encouraged to be flexible in my thinking – a trait that will serve me well if I am learning something new