“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.” – Marianne Williamson

The Vision of Victory

Very few people have overcome their competitors by sheer physical power and force of will; the most important sections of battle are fought through careful strategizing, the gathering of intel, and the ability to keep an unclouded and optimistic mind even at the worst of times. A true victor must be able to out-think their enemy, and to do so, they will need an unshakeable amount of confidence in their ability to achieve their ultimate goal. Many times, you will also notice that an issue will become significantly easier to resolve once you put just a little more thought into it. At the same time, one must also be able to clearly visualize themselves as the victor. After all, it is much harder to manifest something into the real world if you are not able to imagine what that situation would look like. An inability to see oneself as the victor is a sign of low self-confidence and a lack of optimistic vision for the future. You have a fairly good idea of what will deliver you to your desired end goal, but you lack the confidence to see yourself actually coming out on top. Even though it feels as though you have every tool needed to succeed, you are unable to clearly see a future in which you are victorious due to an underlying doubt of your competence and practical abilities. However, now is the time to recognize your strengths and listen to your intuition; if you are confident that you are on the road to success, it is because you know exactly what course of action will get you what you want. Use this as an opportunity to take a closer look at what those around you who are in a similar situation are doing. While this is not an excuse for you to look down on others as inferior, seeing that you are making objectively better decisions than others can be a tremendous boost for the self-esteem. Be grateful for the fact that you can learn from the mistakes of others without having to actually deal with the repercussions, as many times, figuring out what to do starts by first identifying what not to do.

We learn what a relationship is supposed to look like by observing the relationships of those around us. Many people base their idea of a healthy relationship off of the one that they saw between their parents growing up. In the modern day, many people have online public relationships that they look up to as “couple goals”. While this can teach us how to love and respect our partners, this could also be a potential avenue for abusive behaviors to be passed down through the generations. Furthermore, when we don’t have the “perfect relationship” that we imagined, it can be easy to fall into a state of disappointment and discontentment. Recently, you may have been facing a series of challenges in your love life that you aren’t exactly sure how to properly handle. You may have a pretty good idea about what you think the best decision is, but you’ve hesitated to make a move due to fear that you will do severe of permanent damage to a very important relationship. Perhaps you have been thinking about confronting your partner about an abusive behavior, but are worried that it will only serve to make the entire situation worse. Or maybe you have someone that you’ve had your eyes on recently, but are unsure whether or not they will reciprocate your feelings. This may be a sign that it is time to take a closer look at the relationships around you for advice, as they may introduce a perspective that you hadn’t previously expected. Is there anybody with romantic experience that you are comfortable talking to about this issue? Or perhaps you’ve seen this exact same scenario before, just with different characters. What did they do in this situation, and how did it work out for them? While it is best to stick with your instincts and go forward with the plan that you’ve already been contemplating, you can use this information to further polish and finalize your perfect game plan. Be sure to carefully consider every possible outcome, and have a back-up plan should something go wrong. Furthermore, because this is an issue of romance and the emotions, it is best to be prepared for both the best and worst possible emotional outcomes.

SWORDS. SEVEN.

A man in the act of carrying away five swords rapidly; the two others of the card remain stuck in the ground. A camp, is close at hand.

Divinatory Meanings: Design, attempt, wish, hope, confidence; also quarrelling, a plan that may fail, annoyance. The design is uncertain in its import, because the significations are widely at variance with each other.

Reversed: Good advice, counsel, instruction, slander, babbling.

In something as important as our career, it can be extremely difficult to move forward with bold moves. We need the paycheck that we receive from working to pay our bills and support a stable lifestyle, and any move that puts this stability at risk can be a massive cause of anxiety and stress. However, the fear of making moves can also hold us back from taking the next major step in our careers. This may involve going after a promotion, starting a business, going back to school, or even transferring into a new profession altogether. In order to make any of these changes, it could potentially put your current position at risk due to time constraints, a conflict of interests, and the lack of resources to do everything all at once. In order to maintain their current state of being, many will settle for the given circumstances instead of taking a leap of faith out of fear that they will fail and lose everything. You have been considering one of these massive changes recently, but just like many others, you’ve been lacking the confidence to go through with it. You may be afraid that you will lose your current job and be left unable to find a new one, or perhaps you are too nervous to have to meet all new people in a different company. This fear has pushed you to inaction, but the dream continues to linger at the back of your mind like a constant itch that you can’t quite scratch. As time has gone on and you’ve had more time to think it over, you’ve begun to realize that you have all the tools that you need to move forward with this plan of action; this may include resources, such as money and physical supplies, or specialized education and certifications. Now is the time to let your confidence in your own abilities take over and move forward with your plan, regardless of the potential consequences. While it can be incredibly stressful to make such a massive decision, you know exactly what you need to do in order to produce successful results. The only thing keeping from your ultimate goal right now is the fear of failure; let that go, and you will be able to achieve extraordinary things.

Much of our self-confidence is built upon the affirmation of others; while this could potentially build your confidence to astronomical levels, it also leaves you extremely vulnerable to the critiques of others. When The 7 of Swords appears in the reversed position, it may be a sign that you are excessively gauging your success and building up your self-confidence based off of the approval of others. Not every action is going to be met with singing praise, you will not always be admired for your successes, and you won’t always get a pat on the back for a job well done. This does not meant that your success is any less admirable; many times, the noblest of heroes are the ones that go unsung. This may be a time for you to reevaluate your priorities; are you acting purely out of the desire to receive praise? If so, then it may be time to questions why you are engaging in this activity in the first place. Instead, try to focus more on achieving your own personal goals, growing into a better person, and helping others to do the same. So long as you feel as though you put your heart and soul into everything that you do, then this is all the affirmation that you need in order to know that you have succeeded.