Tarot Card of the Day:  October 11, 2021 — Ace of Swords

The Ace of Swords is traditionally the card of new ventures, new beginnings, courage, and new actions. "Try something new," the Ace of Swords tells us. If you're in a restaurant and you've never had escargot, then "try the escargot!" Or, if you've never tried jumping out of an airplane, go online and find out which companies offer skydiving at your nearest airport.

 

But be careful about your comfort zone. Usually, people tell us that we must step outside of our "comfort zones" in order to grow. And that is true -- we do need to do something new, something different than we are comfortable doing, in order to grow.

That is true of learning a new skill, trying a new hobby, trying an innovative approach to a problem at work, or trying something completely different for dinner. It may make you uncomfortable at first, and between the time you decide to do it and the actual activity or "doing" starts.

You are likely to feel resistance. Resistance will pop up and offer many distinct reasons why you should not try that new thing. This is completely normal. And getting comfortable with that resistance, sometimes called "feeling the fear and doing it anyway," is part of the idea of moving outside your comfort zone.

 

But, people often leave out risk management element. "What is the worst that could go wrong?" Well, the worst could be pretty bad -- you could suffer physical injury, or death. Or you might damage a relationship that was going along pretty well because you decide to speak to someone in a way you've never spoken to him, her, them, before.

That is why it's important to think about the worst that could happen and produce a Plan B -- if this worst outcome does start to materialize because you've tried something new, how are you going to counteract it? How are you going to deal with or solve an unpleasant or harmful circumstance or result that could manifest?

 

Therefore, start by thinking about trying something new if you've got the Ace of Swords in your Tarot layout, or as your "card of the day" pull. Think about the best possible outcome of this new thing, and think of the worst, and develop a way to manage the worst if it happens.

 

That will make getting out of your comfort zone and trying something new a lot less harmful, if the thing doesn't work out the way you thought it would, in your optimistic way.