Life can sure get in the way sometimes. It is funny how when you just get going on a new adventure, something you really look forward to making a success, life throws you a couple curve balls. They can really make you rethink what you are doing and whether you have what it takes. Well, that is where we have been for a few weeks. Doubting ourselves, thinking we could not succeed, that we were not “enough.”
So how do we deal with those types of limiting beliefs?
One way is meditation, another is journaling, and another may be talking with a trusted friend or advisor, even a therapist. All are, or have, different tools that can help us conquer our limiting beliefs.
Your best friend can cheer you on. A journal can help you put thoughts down on paper and do a mind dump, getting rid of those messy bits of thinking that are clogging up your brain. Meditation calms us and puts us more deeply in touch with ourselves and our bodies, bringing the mind to a state of clarity. Even exercise can be a form of meditation. Haven’t you heard of movement as meditation? Look it up!
Therapy helps us talk through issues and gives us strategies for dealing with them. I am a strong proponent of therapy, especially when those issues are complex and stop us from handling day-to-day activities and being there for our families. Never substitute a jog around the block for quality mental health care. Your mental health is far too important.
But where does tarot fit into that? Does it fit in at all? Yes! Absolutely!
Tarot is not fortune telling. I am sorry, I cannot tell you what the lottery numbers are. If I could, I would be living in England and researching my ancestors in the actual places where they walked. It is guidance. It is putting a spotlight on things we are either ignoring or had not considered. It gives us the possibilities and helps us find the actions that we can take to achieve those possibilities.
So, you are wondering what limiting beliefs and tarot have to do with each other, aren’t you? The answer is simple. We ask a question and pull the cards. “Why am I failing in making my business successful?” Tough question, isn’t it?
That is where I have been. Thinking I am a failure and wondering why I always fail before I even start. A strong limiting belief with no basis in reality. So, some serious meditation, journaling, and personal readings helped me see what my first issue was. “I’m a failure.” Yeah, a really helpful way of thinking, wouldn’t you say?
I did quite a few readings and realized that, for one, it was not true. How can you be a failure when you have only just started? So…here, let us just journal that garbage out and get rid of the noise in my brain. Good, throw the paper away or, better yet, burn it. Let go of what does not serve.
Then, I did some more readings. “What in my background is causing me to believe this?” Ah! Ok, I see now. Lots of negative talk from people who should have given me more support, encouraged me to try, allowed me to fail but get right back up. And less criticism about my “silly dreams.”
The ones who told me, “Are you serious, you can’t do that.” Or said, “That’s a ridiculous idea, be realistic.” Then there is this oldie but goodie, “You’re a girl, girls don’t do things like that.”
And the best one? “You can’t do it, you are too (fill in the blank), and you’ll fail.” There is that word. Right where it should not be, “You’ll fail.”
Wow. Painful. And totally false. Sure, I may not be successful, but how do I know that until I try? What harm does it do to fail? Failure is a lesson. Failure IS AN OPTION! My solution according to my cards? KEEP GOING! Don't quit. Fail once, get right back up.
We all learned to walk and talk, didn’t we? Unless there was an actual physical reason we could not, we did it. We fell, a lot, but we learned. We learned to balance. We learned how to pick up one foot and then the other. We learned the word for mommy and daddy. They cheered us on for each step and every word. Some of us were lucky enough to have parents or family that kept cheering. Others, not so lucky. But we can still learn and learn to cheer ourselves on. We can connect with our ancestors or chosen ancestral family and find ancestors who will do the cheering. We can find family members or chosen families who will do the same. Our friends, the chosen family we love to be around, are great sources of support.
So, let us pull a few cards. Let me give you a tarot reading. Find out what our limiting beliefs are, our fears, our negative thinking, and find what actions we can take to overcome them. The Marines have a great slogan, I learned it from my son. “Adapt and overcome.” Tarot can help us find ways to adapt and we can always overcome that which we put the work into overcoming.
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