Even some stoked fires fail.
~ Alison Stone
After defiantly and stubbornly insisting that "There is no better way than my way," we hit rock bottom. No eloquent words or intellectual maneuvers can get us out of the hole we've dug for ourselves. The beauty of this card is that we ask, "What now?" And that openness means we may be willing to listen to ideas other than our own. The Dhammapada quote reads:
Whatever an enemy may do to an enemy,
or haters, one to another,
far worse is the harm from one's own wrongly directed mind.
The verse suggests that our own mind can be our own worst enemy, especially when we don't question our thoughts or investigate to see if they match reality. The good news is that modern research has found that adult brains have the ability to change - they have neuroplasticity. In the words of Dr. Daniel Siegel, "the simple truth is that how we focus our attention, how we intentionally direct the flow of energy and information through our neural circuits, can directly alter the brain's activity and its structure." It appears old dogs can learn new tricks.
I can attest to my mind being my own worst enemy
ReplyDeleteMe too, especially when I turn it loose without a leash. :)
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