A reading about perseverance
I wanted to be a pop star when I was young but quickly gave up on that dream because I thought I was born tone deaf and with two left feet.
About three years ago, my friend started taking hip-hop lessons. Now she moves like a K-pop idol. Watching her advance from struggling to keep up with the instructor to possessing the swagger of Justin Bieber, I realized that the difference between her success and my defeated childhood fantasy wasn’t my two left feet. The difference was her perseverance.
The truth is that I never put in any effort to develop my performance skills. I took one singing lesson and stopped because it was winter and I didn’t want to wait outside for the bus. I signed up for a beginner’s hip-hop course and quit after two classes because I didn’t like the instructor. In short, I gave up the moment I encountered an obstacle.
One of the most common reasons why we fail at things is because we don’t try hard enough. I told myself that I lacked natural talent and resources when the reality was that I didn’t want to put in the effort.
There’s an adage that says nothing worthwhile in life comes easily and I tend to agree with that. Love, wisdom and many other worthy goals require a lifelong dedication. We must be willing to persevere through the difficult and boring parts of the journey to reach our destination.
The following is a tarot reading on the concept of perseverance and how we may apply this to our lives.
Why don’t I put in the effort required to achieve my goals? Card: King of Swords
In this deck, the King of Swords is presented as a head floating in a sea of upward triangles that represent the element of air and the intellectual realm. This king may have a lot of lofty ideas but, until they are articulated and actions taken, they are nothing more than idle thoughts and daydreams.
We often stop after coming up with an idea because the beginning, when there is no commitment to action, is the fun part. Getting down to the nitty gritty with planning and design can be frustrating and unrewarding because we risk having our ideas rejected or failure during execution.
Aside from the risk of ideas not panning out as hoped, another reason we may have trouble with execution is due to distractions. In our modern world, we’re constantly bombarded with distractions. Without focus, we cannot work toward our goals, no matter how badly we want to attain them.
How can I motivate myself to stick to my goals? Card: Hanged Man
This card is about letting go of what we don’t need. If our roadblock is fear of failure, we need to remember that the worst type of failure is the failure to try. Those who tried and did not succeed will still gain an experience that can help them finetune their plans and give themselves a better chance of success the next time around.
If our obstacle is the endless sea of distractions, try to dedicate time to be alone with nothing but our thoughts. While some recommend mindfulness meditation, I think the contrast between constant noise and silence can be too big of a leap for some people. Personally, I find it easier to focus on my thoughts when I’m physically active. I like to think when I go for walks or complete mundane chores.
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how we find our focus. The important thing is to wean ourselves off our addictive distractions, whether it is our phones, video games or the latest shows on Netflix.
What can I learn about perseverance? Card: Moon
The Moon is about our subconscious. Although the subconscious encompasses many things, this card tends to focus on its less pleasant aspects. Here, it represents the ways in which we delude ourselves.
While the King of Swords addressed the factors that prevent us from forward movement, this card is asking us to examine what our goals are in the first place. Why do we want what we say we want? Is it possible to achieve?
Sometimes, we can get confused between a symbol of a goal and the goal itself. For example, a lot of people mistake money for success. They’ll work all their lives to achieve a certain amount of money just to discover that, once they’ve reached it, they feel empty instead of fulfilled. If you’ve spent enough time on goals that don’t satisfy you, you may eventually lose your drive.
Another reason why it’s important to examine our goals is to assess our potential to achieve them. As hard as it is to hear, there are goals that can’t be achieved. The more time and energy we waste on pipe dreams, the less resources and energy we’ll have to dedicate to achievable goals.