Blinkered Focus

From the Idiosyncradeck, the Five of Cups; from the Mixed Emotions Cards, Happy:

          A once full teacup lies shattered on the floor. It is a good description of the sudden end of a relationship, whether it comes from betrayal, a cold shoulder, or physical loss. At that moment, my world shrinks down to that event, blocking out the rest of the world. It is all my mind thinks about, as if everything else has been frozen. But the Happy card suggests that I don't have to identify my life with this singular event. Yes, I will grieve the relationship, but I don't have to self-identify with it as if it was the only thing that made my life worthwhile.

Both wisdom and compassion shift our sense of identity away from ourselves toward the wider human, biotic, and cosmic community to which we belong.

—Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi