Tag: abraham lincoln

2024 as you make up your mind for it to be

Weekend Substack: The Sun Tarot card, Lincoln, and Lau Tzu

He probably didn’t actually say it, but Abraham Lincoln is often quoted as saying “people are as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

I find it true, but more nuanced than it seems.

It isn’t about conjuring up pleasant feelings from nothing in a rose-glasses toxic positive kind of way.

Oh no, my friend. It is much worse than that.

Making up your mind to be happy is more likely about accepting your circumstances for what they are and allowing the natural contentment and happiness come out. Happiness is allowed, not created.

Time and again life points back to one painting for me. Not one painting but one allegorical theme in traditional Chinese paintings: The Vinegar Tasters.

The painting shows Buddha, Confucius and Lau Tzu (author of the Tao Te Ching, the originator of Taoist philosophy) Buddha and Confucius are making faces while Lao Tzu smiles. It’s been said that they think they vinegar tastes sour, bitter and sweet respectively.

That’s not quite it.

Lau Tzu isn’t just magically or delusionally conjuring up a sweet flavor without the help of any magic berries any more than we conjure up blissed-out happiness out of thin air. Lau Tzu is tasting the exact same thing as the other two. He’s just smiling because that sour and bitter vinegar tastes just exactly how vinegar is supposed to taste. He’s smiling because the vinegar is being true to its authentic nature. He’s smiling because life is what it is.

Lincoln’s making up your mind to be happy is similar. Making up your mind to be happy isn’t making happy out of thin air. Making up your mind to be happy is making friends with life and the people and the things in your life…even the parts are like a big old barrel of sour, bitter vinegar. Smile because they are being exactly what it their authentic true nature to be. Then smile because you, just maybe, can be that way too.

Sage Sips blog is Tarot in the time it takes to sip your coffee. Tune in tomorrow for a new Monday thing. See you at the next sip!

YouChoose Interactive Tarot 20-26 Sept. 2020

As seems to be the emerging natural pattern, just have a quick announcement before moving on to this week’s cards: I’ll be on a reduced Tarot / online schedule Tue-Sat. because family stuff. If you are interested in a reading or anything from the store, don’t hesitate to order. The only change is that shipping & delivery might take longer than usual. Thank you in advance for your patience.

Left: 10 of Cups (grasshopper) Take the leap and dare to be happy. Beware of self-sabotage, and allow yourself to succeed. Don’t be afraid of finishing well. 10 cards, being the largest of the number cards in any suit, are a sort of pinnacle, the essence of the suit in its greatest expression. Taoism teaches that anything in its extreme holds the seed of its opposite. Be careful not to snatch defeat from the jaws of victoty. Finish, succeed, allow your self to be happy.

“People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be” – attr. Abraham Lincoln

Center: 5 of Swords (Goose) Overcoming obstacles is a journey as well as a destination. This card has shown up previously. My hunch this is for emphasis rather than a hint that we aren’t getting the lesson. Historic things have happened between the card’s appearances to show how important the lesson is: Stay chill, stay calm, work the problem. Swords are associated with the element of air and thereby mind and logic and cool intellect. My attention is drawn more to this elemental association than the contemporary relationship style of meanings. Mr. Andrews association with vision quest grabs my attention too. Especially the quest part. Big, systemic problems aren’t solved in a day. They take time, steps, parts, cooperation, and both tactics and strategy. The journey around or through an obstacle may be long and arduous but also needed and worthwhile.

“Let’s work the problem, people. Let’s not make things any worse by guessing. The Lunar Module just became a lifeboat. I don’t care what anything was designed to do.” – Ed Harris playing Gene Krantz in Apollo 13 (movie)

Right: Strength (Lion) This isn’t going to be easy, but when you have the strength to meed the challenges, the hard doesn’t matter. This card is just exactly that sort of reassurance. You have strength, whether you feel it ahead of time or not. If you don’t, get some. The ability to find solutions and to obtain resources is as good as having them in the first place.

“When you can’t walk, you crawl. When you can’t do that, you find someone to carry you.” – from Firefly (TV series) by Joss Whedon