Mental Bindings

From the Golden Tarot, the Eight of Swords; from the Yantra Deck, Life:

          This woman has convinced herself that she is between a rock and a hard place, that she has run out of options. Yet it can clearly be seen that the rope around her arms is loosely draped, and she could easily remove her blindfold. Why do we put ourselves in mentally spun bindings and then act as if we have no free will? Many of us prefer the Instagram version of life that leaves out the gnats, sweat and dead animal smell. We prefer the glossy magazine version that airbrushes away any imperfections. We don't want to deal with anything difficult or unpleasant, so we blindfold ourselves to any challenges - as if that exempts us from making any decisions or taking any action. However, the Life card is a reminder that yes, this physical life is hard, but it also includes people to love, beauty to enjoy, and moments that can leave us awestruck.  As the Caribou coffee slogan states, "Life is short: stay awake for it."

No matter how bad things are, you can always make things worse.

~Randy Pausch