Temperance and the Art of Drinking Water

As the last couple of days of 2013 unfold, I'm happily focused on 2014 and all of the resolutions and goals I'm developing for the New Year.  A handy tarot spread showed up on my Facebook feed from the Queen of Wands Tarot blog called the New Year's Resolution Tarot Spread.   I thought this spread was particularly interesting because it focuses on finding a resolution that is good for you at the moment, instead of you having to think of one on your own and asking how to stick to it.  Using tarot to access my intuitive self and find out what I subconsciously should resolve to do in the coming year sounded like a great idea yesterday.  So I drew the 15 cards and spent a good long time interpreting them.  The card that really stood out for me when concentrating on the question " What area of my life needs a New Year’s resolution the most right now?"  was the Temperance card. Temperance is all about creating balance and harmony. I need to bring patience, moderation, and long-term meaning into my life in order to work on my new resolution to find Temperance in 2014.  Of course, I love the idea of focusing on creating balance in my life in order to find inner peace and tranquility and reduce stress and anxiety.  Who wouldn't want to find a way to achieve a harmonious, calm existence with a clear vision of the future?  Finding balance in life is no easy feat though, and I've got a lot of obstacles standing in my way.  One way I'm working with my resolution today is by planning out my goals for 2014.  My thought is, if I can at least write down everything I want to accomplish in 2014, I can focus on planning a balanced way to accomplished those goals so that different areas of my life and soul don't get neglected and create stressful imbalances in my life.

And let's be honest, Temperance is also a fancy word for not drinking too much.  We're reminded of this meaning by the two cups of flowing liquid the angel holds in the Temperance card in the RWS deck.  Yes, balance is great and one really can't doubt the good advice of balancing out drinking alcohol with drinking lots of good old hydrating water. But even though you can buy some yummy water with bubbles and flavoring in if for next to nothing at the grocery store, I often fail at making the appropriate beverage decision ;)  So, this coming year, I think creating balance in my life will be a lot more successful if I can incorporate moderate and virtuous drinking decisions into that balancing act.