Hard Card: 5 of Cups
There are times when we can't help but cry over the spilled milk. When that happens we can so thrown by small bumps in the road that we lose sight of our goals. When this happens it is best to take stock as quickly as one can before the feelings of the moment overwhelm everything and we can't get out of our emotional wallow fast enough.
Deep Down the Well Goes
It's true that once we begin to spiral it can seem impossible to grab onto anything solid before we lose ourselves to the despairing moment. But that's not the case. To grab onto the solid ground that is there requires some fancy footwork yet it can be accomplished. Funnily enough, there are five steps. Coincidence, well I just don't believe in them.
1. Pay attention to your breathing
2. Consider what exact outcome would best resolve this agitation
3. Prioritize the easiest steps to meet that outcome
4. Remove blame from the situation when warranted
5. Move to complete the action required
Maybe it sounds overly simplistic but for those of us who have anxiety this moment to breathe and prioritize action can be incredibly useful. I thought it may be worthwhile to share, as I have use this technique with more success than anything I've tried in the past. This list allows me to look at a situation that may be causing me greater anxiety, where I am so focused on the spilled cups in front of me that I cannot see the ones behind me, and step outside of the situation long enough to see things more plainly. I can then visualize a plan of attack that works for me in that moment.
Power of Perspective
The tricky thing about the 5 of Cups is its ability to drag a person down into the muck and the mire. It isn't somewhere we want to go. Getting out requires us to stand outside our bodies in order to better see a way out. Nothing is more obvious in this tarot card than perhaps the rendition of the 5 of Cups from The After Tarot from Lo Scarabeo.
Missing the critical moment.
While extreme, seeing the figure in the water while the one in the forefront appears oblivious is striking. In my mind, the figure in the water is a metaphor for chance, opportunity, some act of fate that we end up missing out on because we become so overwhelmed by the emotional attachment we had with the things that went wrong/didn't go as we had planned.
Take a moment to look up when your world is seemingly crashing down around you. There is no telling what you may be missing. Fate works in ways we cannot fathom and we have to trust that we will be clear headed enough to recognize fate when they come swiftly by. Even if we have to wade into the raging river to meet them.
