Seeing Patterns, Changing Habits

From the Songs for the Journey Home, the Six of Earth Songs (Six of Pentacles); from the Magic Neko Cards, the King of Clubs:

In reflecting on the past, we discover fragments of our present selves hidden within the chapters of our history — a realization that our journey is a continuous narrative, shaped by the echoes of who we once were. ―Monika Ajay Kaul

When we look at the life we have built so far, we might not see too many patterns; it may seem like a heap of jigsaw puzzle pieces. Yet if we sort those pieces and begin to put them together, we start to see how intentional choices became habitual. Some of those repeated actions were skillful and produced wholesome results, while others just created more problems in the long run. Being able to piece together our past actions and see what they produced can help us decide if we want to continue all of those patterns or if there are some we might change in order to influence our future. The King of Clubs is a sumo wrestler, a Japanese sport in which weight, strength and agility are needed to propel one's opponent outside the ring. It takes a lot of effort to change a habit, but when doing so can radically alter our future, it's a worthy goal.