The Lovers at Work - Choices and Commitment

"Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success." Henry Ford

In Tarot, the Lovers are mostly associated with love and relationships.

In a reading about work/career issues, this card could indicate a love interest connected to work, or a choice you need to make that affects both your work and relationship.

But the Lovers is no automatic indication that you are about to fall in love with someone at the workplace :)

This card may well ask you to pay attention to professional relationships in your working life rather than the amorous ones.

• Collaboration rather than competition - healthy competition is good for you, especially when you use it as inspiration to improve your skills and find your own niche. Network and build relationships with professionals you admire; likewise if a less experienced person approaches you for advice, then offer all the help you can give. In the long-term this will pay off as you will gain a reputation of being approachable, supportive and generous rather than selfish, ruthless and arrogant. Who can you collaborate with for mutual benefit? 

• Teamwork - working in an office environment can be stressful at times mainly due to different personalities all trying to work towards the same goal and getting rewarded for it individually along the way. Effective teamwork is based on mutual support, respect and trust, individual accountability and constructive communication. What issues do you need to address to work more effectively in a team? 

• Communication - working with others requires clear, concise, honest, respectful and regular communication. This includes talking, listening and the written word. Avoid gossiping, back-stabbing and getting involved in dramas. Be careful what you write in your emails, letters, reports or articles that will be read by others. Stick to facts and evidence rather than assumptions, accusations and hear-say. Reduce the amount of emails; also try to limit their contents to up to five short sentences.  How can you improve your communication skills to interact more efficiently with others?

• Logic and Reason - keeping a cool head at times of stress and tension in the workplace can be hard, but it is important to avoid emotional involvement or reactions. How can you detach yourself emotionally from challenging situations at work? 

• Choices - you may have to make some important choices regarding your working life. Changing jobs, changing your entire career, moving to a different department, starting your own business...you will need to weigh up these choices carefully; they are likely to affect the rest of your life. What would you like to improve about your work? What changes are necessary for you to achieve your goals? What do you want to keep, and what do you need to let go of? 

• Love your job - Let's not ignore love totally, when the Lovers come up in your reading. If you are not enjoying your work, then this may be a good time for you to take the plunge and start afresh. If this is too radical for you, then the least you can do is explore what action you can take to feel more enthusiastic about your work. Sometimes it can be just your mindset that needs to change. What can you do to make your working life more fulfilling? 

• Balance - here in the UK, the highly demanding work culture is putting pressure on people to work long hours leaving them stressed and exhausted at the end of the day. If you are one of those people, then consider paying more attention to your private life. Spend more time with family, friends, pursue activities you enjoy and relax more. Effective work/life balance will make you happier and healthier. How can you help yourself to have the best of both worlds? How can your workplace contribute to implement healthier work/life balance? 

The Lovers in a reading can act as a reminder of how important it is to build and sustain professional networks and business partnerships based on co-operation and mutual benefit.

Re-evaluate your priorities including working less and living more.

Perhaps you will need to brush up on your communication skills to work more efficiently.

Heck, you may even get yourself into a fling or affair at work, and you will need to carefully consider its consequences.

Most of all, when you apply the energies of the Lovers well, it can lead to the essence of this card: you will love the work you do.

Warmest wishes,

Christiane

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Love The Work You Do

I have just returned from a fabulous holiday, and while I was enjoying magical landscapes and the surprisingly sunny weather in the northern parts of the UK, my head kept buzzing with all sorts of creative ideas to do with my business ventures.

You see, I love the job and the work I do. I could work 24/7 and not regard it as work but pleasure, even though admittedly it's not all rosy, and I do encounter a fair share of irritations along the way (check out Theresa Reed's excellent article 8 Hard Truths About Being A Tarot Reader).

And here's your exploration for today:

Take a look at the image of the Sun; do you feel as joyful as the child when you think of your working life?

Whether you are self-employed or working for a company, remember it doesn't have to be perfect, but your work should fulfil most if not all of the following needs:

• prospects and career development 
• opportunities to fulfil your potential 
• a sense of purpose 
• flexibility (time and hours) 
• healthy work/life balance 
• being valued, respected and encouraged 
• earning a fair income (one that nurtures and sustains you) 
• being empowered 
• a good level of autonomy and self-determination 
• to make the most of your abilities and intelligence 
• to be able to embrace change with optimism rather than fear 
• feed your confidence and self-esteem

Which of your needs are fulfilled? Which ones are neglected? Make notes on what changes you would like to implement in order to improve your working life. Explore which skills or personal qualities you need to make use of or develop in order to achieve them. 

If you are looking to make positive changes to your working life, the Sun is asking you to focus on the following key qualities:

confidence

self-worth

optimism

joyfulness

In astrology, the sun rules the ego and its key phrase is "I am". Quite literally this means "looking after no. 1" rather than neglecting your core needs for the benefit of others.

This doesn't mean that it's okay to be outrageously selfish and ruthless, but if you feel undervalued, underpaid, overlooked, overruled, sidelined and generally loosing out in your current occupation, then deep down you know this cannot continue and you have to do something about it.

Equally, if you are stuck in a boring, tedious job that doesn't nurture your soul and spirit, then it's also time to make plans and take action to improve your working life. It's time to stop finding excuses for your situation.

But if you feel insecure and lack confidence, this can be difficult to do. 

The trick is to start changing your mindset and keep focusing on your new empowering way of thinking:

• raise your expectations - expect the best - expect your needs to be fulfilled 
• start believing in your talents and abilities - know your worth and take action (training, mentoring, etc.) to increase it
• spread happiness - take pride in your work - smile (even if you don't always feel like it)

Have you sometimes wondered why some people are so successful compared to others?

They may not be that talented, they may even be rubbish managers or disastrous CEOs, but what they do have is a a positive mindset about themselves; they feel deserving of the best and believe in themselves. With that attitude they get others to believe in them, too, thus becoming successful business leaders, artists, therapists, sales people etc.

So, this is your first lesson from the Sun: 

Focus on developing its four key qualities within yourself by adopting a new positive mindset of raising your expectations and believing in yourself. Perform your work joyfully, even if you don't always feel like it.

As long as you are determined and persist, you will notice improvements sooner than you think.

What can you learn from the Sun to start improving your working life today?

Warmest wishes,

Christiane

PS: If you know little about the basics of Tarot, check out my eBook Empowering Messages from the Tarot for a concise introduction and enlightening information.