Allow Change

photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/49208525@N08/27880071071">American Robin Chicks</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(license)</a>

The other week I noticed a theme in nature: extreme change and death. On my daily walk with my dachshund Henry, I saw littered along the sidewalk the effects of nature during a time of transformation. Baby birds who had fallen to the ground and died, most likely pushed out of the nest by their offspring, parents, or themselves--a first-flight disaster. Sad to see, but nature is it's own counselor and in some ways it's refreshing to see that that which is left unattended, attends to itself. I also saw unhatched eggs of delicate, sky blue. Shattered shells. Bunches of feathers from what appeared to be a hawk's feast. I also saw numerous snakeskin, all silvery and opaque, still holding the life-shape, yet not the inner workings.

That's another thing about nature, when one situation is too constricting, it's time to shed the skin, leave the nest, or be pushed out of the nest. There's none of this 'stay until you die' rhetoric which humans live by. 'You'll never get me to leave this crappy job. I've been here for forty years and no one can replace me. I'll die before I leave!' Even though the job gives you migraines, doesn't pay enough, doesn't let you take a vacation or sick leave, doesn't advance . . . But still , we persist. Or how about the relationship that runs into a toxic cycle of argument after argument, and both of you know it's over, but neither one is allowed to leave? Humans tend to live by an old doctrine of face it until it's dead. Literally dead. Physically dead. The truth is, spiritually it had died a long time ago but we refused to see it. We went through years of sadness and anger, we let it destroy our health, our happiness, all because we were told it was shameful and selfish to LOVE YOURSELF FIRST.

Loving yourself first doesn't mean you hate anyone else. It doesn't mean you want others to suffer or be hurt, or that you're better than them. It simply means that you know what is good and bad for you, and knowing that, you make decisions which are progressive and which will serve ALL PARTIES. Not just you, because a positive action will always benefit others. Loving yourself first means you love yourself, and everyone else, too. You are your sole provider on this earth when it comes to real, honest, decision-making, and you know that when you make decision based on other people's wants/needs/desires it will only end up bringing negativity into your life. That's where stress-related health issues come up, not to mention depression. It's not wrong to love yourself first, it's smart.

But it's also extremely difficult.

When making a major life decision, remember to list the pros and cons. Write down if the change will truly benefit you, or hurt you? And others? Look at it from all angles, and never make a decision based on anger or rash wants and needs. Look at the long term. Think about what you really want and if the grass is truly greener on the other side. Also, do think about if you're being selfish--and when I say selfish, I mean, am I doing this to hurt someone else on purpose? There's a difference between doing something you know is truly good for you and will help you on your path to being a better person but which might ruffle a few feathers, and doing something that has the intent of bringing pain and revenge. Of course, the latter would only hurt you eventually. It does come back, believe it or not.

On one of my walks I found a baby bird lying in the hot street, still breathing and very much alive. I approached it carefully, timid so that it wouldn't snip at me with it's tiny beak. It opened wide and squawked at me, and soon a flurry of other birds dive-bombed out of the trees, all crying out in warning. They didn't want me to help, the baby didn't want me to help. But I knew that it needed help, because if I didn't do something, a car would run right over it and never know. I grabbed an old bank envelope form my purse and scooped up the baby and hurriedly carried it to a patch of shady grass where it could either learn to fly, or die. My hopes were that it's parents would fly down and provide a makeshift nest on the ground to accommodate it. I couldn't guarantee it would happen, but at least now it had some hope.

In life there's always a choice. We dither and worry over change. We refuse help over and over again, because we're afraid, so afraid of the transformation. But believe me when I say there is a wiser, all knowing hand reaching out to us that wants us to beauty and joy of the newness that change brings. Happiness is not for certain people, it's for all people. Reach out for it, and know that there are many who will benefit.

Many blessings and peace.

Symbols

Today as I took my daily walk around the park, I saw a white feather on the path and then later a bird that had died, the color of black. I've seen the bird numerous times and always felt a sort of sadness and gloom, gloom because in the past they have symbolized to me unfortunate events coming in the near future. Of course, now I know through tarot that a symbol of death is never a bad omen so much as an indicator of coming change. Rebirth. Today I saw the white feather, and it was a reminder that I was protected by the angels and all things of the Divine. Many people miss or brush these off as coincidental or insignificant, but for me they are reminders of the very things I've been coming across in my spreads. I can be quite insecure about my own readings, tacking the cards off as, "Well, that probably won't come to pass," or "I was influencing the reading with my own negativity." The reason I, and others, do this is denial and fear.

So, speaking of change, how do you explain these things to the other people in your peripheral, such as family members, loved ones and friends? It's not going to come across very well to explain that you've been told one karmic situation has been completed and the next must be embarked upon. They will, most likely, call you crazy. And I do understand that. But here's the thing, in my experience the cards are not revealing any great secrets. The things they tell you, you already know. And other people know as well. I know deep in the marrow that I've changed drastically and can no longer pretend I am the same person as two years ago. I feel it. I live it. But that emotional chain is so strong—invisible as it may be. That old adage a father would tell to his child: 'If you really love it, you'll set it free,' doesn't seem to apply to humans. We think we own each other. The problem is, the Universe does not work in the same manner, and in fact abhors ownership. When it knows someone has reached and completed a karmic cycle, it will do everything to enact change, even if that person (and the people they are involved with) insist on holding on.

To the Universe, life is a river. It goes one direction, and one direction only. It does not stop, back up and turn the other way. It does not fight the current. It flows. It is completely unnatural to the spirit world to go against the current of change. Repeating the same karmic cycle over and over again is stupid and stressful and like a million pounds of gravity strapped to the chest. The Universe will find a way to make things happen, be it drastic change or minimal change. But there will be change.

So, a white feather and a dead bird were put in my path to remind me that stubborn is stupid, and change is the flow of life. If you are reading this, you're probably supposed to think about it too.