Every year on my birth date I draw cards from a tarot deck. I don’t read them according to what I’m told they are to mean, but rather on what speaks to me from the card image and my desires and priorities at the time. What I draw then gives me some guidance for the year to come.
Last year, among other questions, I wanted to get some guidance around action steps. The card I drew pointed me toward slowing down whenever I’m about to act. Slowing down isn’t something I do naturally, and yet it is something worth contemplating.
Slowing down, or pausing, means (to me) taking a breath, taking the time to consider for a moment what the action I’m about to take means in a broader way. That pause gives me time to feel the impact of that action on myself and others, and not miss it because I’m already onto something else. Slowing down – pausing – gives me an opportunity to take in that meaning physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
It was a small guidance I wouldn’t have thought of had I not drawn that card. But it was something I thought of often that year, every time I was about to act on something that felt a bit risky or anxiety-making.
If you have a problem giving yourself a breath when you’re about to act on something that gives you anxiety, check out my online course Restore Your Balance.
Take a breath before taking action.
Breathe to heal
Quote of the Week
“In a moment’s pause, another world reveals itself behind the ordinary.”
― Dana Gioia
Maryanne