The Stories We Tell

From the Gill Tarot, the Ten of Swords; from The Circle, 'Strength:'

Reality is always kinder than the stories we tell about it.

—Byron Katie

          The stone number that contains the swords illustrates how our habitual patterns of thought can become so ingrained that we rigidly see them as truth rather than opinions or concepts. Life can feel very constricted and miserable when we get stuck in such a cycle; we feel hopeless and often take on the role of a victim. 12 Steppers have a saying: "My best thinking got me here (meaning hitting bottom)." But that doesn't mean we can't become open-minded and change our thinking so that we have more clarity and a wider perspective. The Strength card reminds me of something Lakota Elder Joseph Marshall III said in a recent interview: 

Each of us—whether we are young or old—have a certain amount of strength to begin with. We come with that; it's part of the package. When we are born, we have the ability to be strong. And in order to flip that switch or turn on that strength, we need not avoid bad things; we need to face up to them. Whether we get knocked down or not is not really the issue. We face it with whatever strength we have. 

Playing the victim or the martyr won't benefit us in the long run, but using our strength to face reality and learn from it can.