Not Resisting but Relaxing

This week I'll be using the Tarot de St. Croix, created and self-published by Lisa de St. Croix. Along with it, I'll be drawing from the Archetype Cards, created by Caroline Myss and published by Hay House. Today's cards are the Four of Pentacles and Pioneer:

When I’m really caught up — in a thought, emotion, or situation — I like to remind myself to look up. However the sky has chosen to appear, looking up always offers a reminder that there’s more to this world than me and my own problems. ——Lilly Greenblatt

          What happens when we watch the morning news, read a few social media posts, or get a disturbing notice in the mail? In my case, my brain sends out stress hormones and my emotions jump in to hunker down for battle. My world shrinks down to 'me' as soon as I've gotten hooked by the mights and maybes. Yet there are many more possibilities than just the negative ones I'm currently holding; what I'm focusing on is the clouds, not the infinite expanse of sky behind them. The Pioneer archetype suggests I embrace a new way of thinking and acting, becoming proactive rather than reactive. As Pema Chodron suggests, "...rather than being disheartened by the ambiguity, the uncertainty of life, what if we accepted it and relaxed into it? What if we said, Yes, this is the way it is; this is what it means to be human..."

When we resist change, it’s called suffering. But when we can let go and not struggle against it, that’s called enlightenment. ——Pema Chodron