A Sword in the Heart

From the Neuzeit Tarot, the Three of Swords; from Rory's Story Cubes, Fear:

          What first struck me about these three swords is the faces on them are smiling. But isn't that how some of us cover our sadness instead of crying? Take a look at the blades: one has a vampire-like figure, another appears to represent our nurturing/mothering side, and the last is a volcano exploding. People who "feed" on us, people/projects we nurture, and people/situations that fill us with rage - all ways we can feel overwhelmed. Yet my Buddhist training reminds me I am not the only person who suffers (note the four colors behind the swords). And I have some responsibility to take, not for the actions of others, but for the way I've been hooked. Those stories I tell myself keep me anxious (as the Fear cube shows) thinking "something bad will happen" if I don't keep all my balls in the air. And after a while that defeated, fearful feeling can begin to feel like sorrow. As Pema Chodron suggests, I need to stop narrating and pay attention to what's really important:

 If someone comes along and shoots an arrow into your heart, it’s fruitless to stand there and yell at the person. It would be much better to turn your attention to the fact that there’s an arrow in your heart...