19 January 2021
Today's Cards
Context
Welcome to Day 19!
There were a lot of warnings about a sleepless night and pain. It’s possibly the painkillers the hospital administered that prevented that from happening. For the most part I slept well.
Getting used to using crutches was an altogether interesting experience – not that I can wield them yet with any great assurance. However, after embedding the basic techniques from Dr S, falling backward was prevented.
It’s amazing just how many activities you take for granted when able-bodied. Little things like going to the ladies is a production in itself.
After checking out and crossing the border it was a one and a half hour trip back home. While husband was driving, I was able to book in a doctor’s appointment to refer me to the Fractures Clinic. Thinking I would be able to get in straight away I refrained from eating anything until after the appointment. In the meantime, the journey was not kind to the pain.
To my surprise the estimated wait time to get into the Fractures Clinic would be approximately a week to two weeks. In part this is because the swelling needs to go down and in part because there’s a backlog of patients in the public system.
Trying to get a private orthopedic surgeon seemed just about impossible and I concluded that I would need to wait for the swelling to go down regardless whether it was public or private. So, I stuck with the public health system in Queensland.
Whenever I’ve had dealings with the Queensland public health system, which has mainly revolved around a visit with my mother and a couple of Coronavirus tests, the service has been nothing but professional and competent.
Had I been staying locally around Tweed Heads I suspect I could have been fixed before the swelling set in (I think). Anyway, what’s done is done. Now I need to trust in my choices to bring about a healing experience of body and mind.
The Cards
Traveling was the first card in the Now position. Yesterday Traveling was in the Goal position and today it is in the Now position. Making for a nice easy way for us to track the transition from Goal to Now. In this case, I’m simply using the card to indicate the card’s literal meaning.
Possibilities was the second card in the Influence position. Influencing the Traveling was the Possibilities card. There were many possibilities open to me but the better long term options available to me were if we went back home. At home, if needed I would be able to seek assistance from my neighbour, my husband and the treatment options might be greater.
We are the World was the third card in the Goal position. This card, to me and it diverges from Osho’s view of this card, is when people are working in together for a higher purpose. In the situation where I have broken my ankle the Goal I have is that I give each of the people involved the respect not only for their person but also for their skills.
In this way, if everyone works together the team of experts create wonderful possibilities and my humble broken ankle aside, they save lives. Although, even the success of fixing a broken ankle in time is a cause for celebration.
Stress was the fourth card in the Distant Past position. The situation at the crux of it all was the slip at the boat harbour. A stress caused by a lack of mindfulness; splitting my attention between washing my feet, taking a step, already thinking about finalising the packing at the hotel for the trip back, how awesome the swim was and how sad I’ll be to finish the weekend.
So, can is see where the Stress card fits in? Yes.
Awareness was the fifth card and appeared in the Recent Past position. Following the moment of Stress it began to dawn on me that in there will be a period of not exercising, swimming or even moving freely. Four to six weeks of frustration loomed ahead of me. The other thing that dawned on me as I replayed the incident in my mind was that I was incredibly lucky with just a broken ankle.
The steps were/ are dangerous and being so close to the water was in in my humble opinion a beautiful and poor planning decision. Especially, if there wasn’t an allowance for including some non-slip grip on the steps close to the water.
The Lovers was the sixth card and appeared in the Future Energy position. I struggle when this card appears because it plays tricks on me. Not until today have I had another realisation about what The Lovers card might mean – retrospectively applied to when I met my husband. That’s a tale for another post.
The card is about unity and compassion. Osho’s words, “This love is based on freedom, not expectation or need” (References, Day 019.1).
Applying The Lovers to the circumstance in which I find myself in may very well relate to all the people that do their jobs well. It could also relate to my husband whose help at the moment I would literally struggle without. It’s early days and he has been incredibly attentive to ensuring that I do not further injure myself .
Change was the seventh card and appeared in the upcoming Feelings or feelings about the situation position. Without a doubt things will change for me. This is a learning curve I can say with assurance that the most people don’t plan for themselves.
The card represents the changing nature of Change itself. At the moment it is a down with the ankle and inconvenience and there is also an up in that I gain a new perspective of restrictions and constraints.
While it’s not something you would wish to test your mettle with I’m using it as an opportunity to do so. Stay-tuned as the grumbles could very well follow.
Receptivity was the eighth card and appeared in the Other People’s Views position. The Receptivity card is about appreciation and gratitude for life itself accepting whatever life brings. Being in the how Others see me position, might be the case.
There has been a conscious choice in myself on how I would handle this situation. I did not want to take my shock of the situation out on others around me and especially not on those that were there to help me. This sounds simple. For me, at least it took years of meditation to get to be able to have enough mental control not to swear at the universe in a “why me?” or “what about me?” attitude. There’s still a little way to go.
The Creator was the ninth card and appeared in the Hopes & Fears position. Following on from the Receptivity card, my hope is that I have successfully conquered the need to lash out when in pain. The fear then is that I have not succeeded and fearing that I have further to go on the journey that I thought.
Participation was the tenth card and appeared in the Outcome position. Finally, we get to Participation and the Outcome. In previous posts where Participation has appeared it has been about participating in life to its fullest. Here would be no different, but I suspect that the participation will be more with regard to participating in healing myself.
Help the people that are there to help you to actually help you, in this way you’re also healing yourself. It simply means understand why you’re being asked to do something, that’s not just on the intellectual level but also on the emotional, physical and metaphysical level.