Give the death card a break....
My kids had Monday off, but this still seems like it's been one lonnnng week. It feels good to have it finally be Friday. I lose one child on an overnight tonight, but will probably gain at least 2 smelly boys to replace her. With a 13 year-old and a 14 year-old itr's always something.

I want to get right to my card of the day today, I'm turning over one for my best friend Richelle, who had a very bad day yesterday. Wow, I turn over the World card, reversed. This makes so much sense to me- earlier this week I dedicated the card to another friend, and HE got the world, in a positive position. He's come a long way to hit a time when he feels this much promise, and that card was a blessing. Now, the World appears again, to show this friend is still working to find balance. Shelle, it's a tough time right now, so many aspects of life are out of balance, no wonder it's a strain on you! You feel sluggish and action feels like a lot of work. There are so many things on your plate it's really hard to know what to focus on at this time, so you wind up spinning your wheels and blaming yourself. There's such a focus on the emotional aspect of all this, the feelings involved, that the actual problems creating all this emotional upheaval get less attention.

So what to do? I turn over one more card to see if there is any obvious advice, and there is the Death card. Yeah, that's some serious advice.

Now, let's have a moment to talk about the Death card. This card has a bad rep, and I feel it's undeserved. I read this card as a promise of rebirth, of putting issues and problems from the past to bed, dealing with them and moving forward in a new way, making a conscious effort to start fresh. It can also be about putting the death of friends or loved ones behind you- own the feelings, own the relationship, learn from it, and feel ready to move forward.

In this case I think that is relevant for Shelle, too. Today is the birthday of a loved one who died last year. Shelle, what would Ed do? Or, maybe in this case we need to use this loved one who has passed as an example, Shelle, what SHOULD Ed have done? I mean, here you are and you are up to your eyeballs in angst, but you are here by God, still standing and still able to make whatever choices you want to about your future to improve your life. You are HERE, and while you're in a tough spot, you're going to work your way out of this. (Whereas Ed wasted a lot of time. Learn from that.)

The Death card tells you to make an effort to make changes, to put on your armor and move forward. Don't look at everything facing you, focus on one part of the picture at a time. Take baby steps toward change, and don't beat yourself up because you arent' able to solve all your problems at once. Instead, celebrate your small successes.

That's it for today. Happy Friday all...