A Matter of Perspective

From the Albano-Waite Tarot, the Five of Cups; from the Rumi Cards, "how can it heal:"

       Seeing the three spilled cups reminds me of a story about a little boy in kindergarten. Shortly after arriving to school, the teacher noticed him scratching his arms. Upon closer inspection, she realized he had poison ivy and sent him to the school office for calamine lotion. At lunch, another student in line backed into his tray, covering him with spaghetti and sauce. Again he went to the office for a clean shirt. At recess he fell and skinned both knees, making yet another trip to the office for bandaids. The principal, who had seen him come in and out all day remarked, "You are just having an awfully hard day today!" The little boy looked up and said, "Oh, no ma'am. This is one of the best days ever. When I was outside on the playground, I found a quarter!" I can choose to look for what is good in my life, or I can focus on a bad moment and stretch it into a whole day or week.
       Rumi's verse suggests that sometimes it may look like things are becoming worse, when it's actually a stage of things getting better. Someone who knows nothing about sewing might watch a seamstress cut up a beautiful piece of fabric and think it's ruined. But later when the pattern pieces become a lovely dress, the need to cut up the material makes sense. Just because I can't see the big picture doesn't mean there isn't one. Like the fellow in the Five of Cups, I may have to make it to the bridge (over troubled water) before I can see with a new perspective.