Week 1, card 1; the Ace of Spades. I decided to just work through a suit at a time, rathet than trying to decide symbolic meaning for each. But the funny thing about this card is that when I engraved the card with the it's meaning, it wasn't until many hours later that I realized that the word I had intended to engrave on the card wasn't the word that got engraved.
I intended to engrave "Choice," but the word "Change" was engraved, instead.
At first I was upset, because it felt like the cards were already "ruined." But as I processed the unintended engraving faux pas, it forced me to process the relationship between change and happiness in my life.
Change is such a loaded word, but this card is really all about the Serenity prayer...Grant me the Serenity (one of the many faces of Happiness)...to accept the things I cannot CHANGE...the courage to CHANGE the things I can...and the wisdom to know the difference. It's all about change! And the obstacles that I can't accept absolutely create a block to experiencing Happiness.
Change happens.
Change is choice...but it's also very much about the parts of our lives that get changed whether we choose them, or not. But the degree to which I fight the change I can't control absolutely affects my ability to experience true happiness in my daily life...and there is much I can't accept.
I know it's sappy to have this card be all about the completely over used cliché Serenity Prayer, but it works...and it's the perfect first card in my Happiness Deck.
But the hardest part about this card is accepting what I cannot change when an important relationship is involved. I remember another quippy cliché that said something like, "If you don't like something change it...if you can't change it, leave it...and if you can't leave it, accept it." I've never figured out what to do if something is unacceptable...I guess that's what this process is all about with this deck of Happiness Cards...to answer the question of how to live a meaningful life in spite of the unacceptable thorns that embed themselves too deeply within our soul to remove them on our own.
So...Change it is...whether that change happens by intentional choice, invisibly beneath the surface, or by circumstances we may not ever choose or be able to control.
Serenity, Now!!
Well, if I want the Serenity, I guess I have to do the courage and acceptance parts, too...who knew that Happiness was so much work!
