My first New Year Resolution
Receiving the Nine of cups as a clarification card to go with the Ace of Pentacles for the start of the year tarot reading got me thinking….
How satisfied he looks with himself and life!
Initially the nine of cups seemed to be speaking directly to the feeling of Christmas, when we eat drink be merry and generally over indulge and have a good time. It’s the holidays! But at lunch on Christmas Day we started the inevitable conversation about New Year Resolutions.
To get strong physically was first on the list, all of us of a certain age and conscious that getting strong comes before any vanity about being ‘fit’.
The second resolution came from me initially, quickly taken up by others, that I am frustrated with myself for constantly feeling slightly dissatisfied with where I am in life. We all agreed we are constantly criticising ourselves for not having achieved more. We wished we ended each day with a feeling of satisfaction, of pleasure being had, of feeling it was a day well spent. We were annoyed with ourselves by the amount of time we spend feeling disgruntled and missing the enjoyment…and getting annoyed with things, traffic, people…..what a waste of a day, of a life, of years of slight dissatisfaction!!
I am conscious this has become a bit of theme for me hence it being critical to ‘correct’ (for want of a better word) or reverse in 2026.
Which is when I realised the power of the Nine of Pentacles in this new year tarot reading. The card wasn’t just referring to being relaxed and happy over Christmas; nodding to the slight aspect of ‘faking it to make it’….which many of us find ourselves doing over Christmas. Not all of us have happy families and some of us don’t have families at all… so the ‘acting as if’ aspect of the nine of cups is essential if you want to be part of the Christmas spirit.
But what if the nine of cups is actually reminding us of the purpose of life?! To enjoy it! I always think when I meet my maker, he/she’s going to say Well???? did you enjoy it! And I really want my answer to be yes and to let him/her know how grateful I was to have experienced life and the world.
You just have to look at the tarot card, the man portrayed often referred to as the bon viveur, one who lives well and knows how to live well. At its best the nine of cups is all about being happy, being able to make ourselves happy. And they do say you can’t make other people happy if you are not happy with yourself! Which is all very well, but life is/can be tough, and not everything going on makes one happy which is why I always associate the song ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’ to the nine of cups. Lighten up and appreciate the good things of life is what the nine of cups is saying. And if you don’t full feel appreciative, ‘act as if’. A smile always cheers everyone including ourselves up! ( I’m not going into the ‘negative’ connotations of the card right now, which talks of over indulgence and superficiality….now is the moment to look at the positive!)
And there is no question when we are in a happy mood, we are naturally grateful, we feel naturally appreciative, we feel relaxed, we smile at strangers on the street. Our energy shifts and connects with others, with kindness and happy vibrations. And happy vibrations, joy, radiance, delight, fun, laughter, kindness is what I am after, and when you stop to think, a much more welcoming way to greet the day, the world, work, friends, family. So my message to myself is do not indulge in any feelings of dissatisfaction with myself or the world! Stop focussing on shortcomings! and get on board with the fresh energy and new opportunity offered by the Ace of Pentacles. Appreciating this brand new opportunity!
I am conscious, this is going to take practice, because I’ve got into a bit of a habit of including anxiety and doubt in my day. I’m going to have to journal gratitude at the end of the day, and at the beginning! I’m going to have to make sure I walk in the park and say hi to the trees, and notice the colour of the sky. I’m going to have to notice when I am rushing and slow down and breathe and relax. And smile at myself in the mirror when I forget…..I have so much to be grateful for, I want to feel it and experience it every day. This is my new year’s resolution. What is yours?