It’s July. The month of The Best Husband Ever’s birth, Shark Week, and also that time of year when it’s a race between me and the garden pests to see who can outlast the heat and claim the harvest. It’s no surprise this month’s card had to be: Strength.
Strength (the deck shown is the Sacred Rose Tarot) depicts a woman riding on the back of a lion (Leo, also the zodiac sign for July). The woman represents our strongest emotional and intuitive natures, and the lion represents our physical world of survival. The symbol of the double nimbus is seen above her head, representing spiritual and physical power fused into one. Both face the reader in direct confrontation, as if ready to charge at any moment. The woman is confident, calm, and in control of the powerful beast beneath her. Their hair intertwined, showing a unification of spiritual and physical power between them.
This is a card of subtle control. The woman does not use force to tame and control the lion. Instead, she gently weaves her fingers into its mane and whispers in its ear. Small and gentle does not mean weak.
We just went to a 4th of July barbeque, where a dear friend of mine hugged my husband and said, “You know, you are my inspiration.” (For those of you who don’t know, he has MS and currently suffers from coordination and mobility issues, among others…). July is hot and on a normal day he struggles to walk, always using a walker or, on bad days, a wheelchair. But he keeps going, always. He approaches this disease as a test of spiritual and physical challenges. In his mind, there is nothing he can’t do – he just has to do it differently. His indomitable spirit is a source of daily inspiration and motivation for me.
“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.”-Mahatma Gandhi
So, what does this have to do with Strength and subtle control? He’s making progress using the Wahls Protocol: walking better, losing weight, is cognitively clearer, and his mindset is noticeably more positive. While changing to the Wahls Protocol may seem like a big change (for those of you who haven’t heard about it, you can read about it here), changing our diet to be healthier really isn’t that big of a deal. Not when it leads to better health, better mobility, better brain function, right? And to me, if a simple diet change can make that big of a difference, why wouldn’t we do it. I’d rather him eat more veggies than take another prescription (he already has so many!), right? (Note: This is not a cure for MS, but a way to manage some of the symptoms.)
Also, his exercise program may seem “subtle” to many. He requires different exercise and stretching than the Regular Joe, and longer rest period to recover. If he attacked exercise with the force and crazed enthusiasm of a “normal” workout, he’d be wiped out and completely unable to walk or function. But approaching exercise with finesse has lead to better strength and shorter recovery times.
So, my readers, what choices are you currently looking at? What, in your life, have you been forcing and attacking, when maybe a softer, gentler approach might be more successful? Where are you “yelling,” when a whisper will lead you to your desired outcome?
In the words of my running coach, “Small changes lead to big changes.”
I encourage you to take some time this month and reflect. Look around you and see ways that little things can lead to big things, good or bad, and then choose wisely.
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