Theme of the Week: "But that's not the answer I wanted!"

Late summer can be an odd time of year, energetically speaking. In Chinese Medicine, it's the time when the body's energy starts to turn inward. In the tarot, this time is symbolized by the Seven of Pentacles, which deals with themes of reaping what one has sown and considering changes in one's direction based on this feedback from the universe.

Sometimes, we don't like what harvest time tells us about the choices we made during planting time. And then what? Two choices: deny the lessons of the harvest or accept them as tools to make better decisions next time.

My clients' guides had a lot to say this week, but most of it wasn't what their charges wanted to hear. In that scenario, there are several possibilities. One, of course, is that I got it wrong. Everyone makes errors sometimes, so that's certainly a possibility.

More likely, though, is that it's not our guides' job to agree with us all the time. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Our guides are here to help us grow and evolve as souls, according to our wishes before we were born. Often this help comes in the form of offering hope, comfort, encouragement, and love. Sometimes, it doesn't. Sometimes what we most need is a suggestion that we could benefit from a change in thinking. (Or, as many psychics refer to it, "a bat upside the head"!)

This is the optimal time of year for evaluating everything from work to physical health to personal relationships. Keeping an open mind is essential, because remember: if you keep doing what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten. How attached are you to what you've always gotten? Are you ready to let it go yet? If not, don't worry about it. It's much harder to let go of things that are familiar to us, even if they aren't good for us, than most people understand.

All things have their appropriate time, so don't beat yourself up if you aren't ready to make a change yet. Just recognize that the people who love you (including your guides) are going to keep pushing you in the direction of your better self, regardless of your state of readiness. Your guides are infinitely patient, and are happy to wait as long as you need to be ready for the changes they see for you.

And feel free to argue with them all you like. They're infinitely patient, remember? I can speak from personal experience that arguing does absolutely no good. But please, do try. It's a good exercise, if nothing else, and actually does help to build your relationship with your guides. It also makes me feel better to know I'm not the only ridiculously stubborn person in the world!