78-Day Meditation Challenge: Day 64

Reclaiming Worth in Unfair Spaces

Card of the Day: Six of Pentacles

There are three figures on this card.

A person of wealth stands measuring out a handout to one of two people in poverty, who squat with hands upraised toward him.

This card is often interpreted from the perspective of the person of wealth—an encouragement toward generosity, kindness, compassion.

And today, I wonder if there is more.

What about the perspective of the two people in poverty? How do we engage when we are in a season of poverty—poverty of spirit, poverty of resources, poverty of perceived power?

Looking closer, I notice that one of the two is receiving alms, and the other is not.

When we do not have enough, are we more aware of being treated unfairly? Are we primed in those moments to feel betrayed, exposed, powerless—I’ve put myself out there, I’ve risked vulnerability, and I am being passed over. I have nothing.

How do we manage that feeling, that dark shadow?

Is there an opportunity to reclaim power?

What strikes me about this card is the assumed rigidity of its power structure. There is the rich person and the poor people, with a chasm in between. The powerful and the powerless. The lines are drawn so starkly that it invites the question:

Is that really true? Must it be this way?

Is there power in accepting the unfairness of it all—and choosing to persevere anyway? Is there power in standing up from a prostrate position seeking pity, and instead seeking respect?

Is there power in continuing on, even when you don’t have a fair shot?

Is there power in refusing to let others define who you are—choosing instead to live and speak your truth?

Yes.

Your worth is not defined by someone else.

Your value, your power, comes from within: your spirit, your light, your capacity for grace despite unfairness; your joy despite hardship; your compassion despite suffering.

That is your power—light in the midst of darkness.

How can I apply this today?

• I will notice when I am tempted to measure my worth by others’ approval or generosity.

• I will honor the power that comes from standing in my dignity, no matter my circumstance.

• I will remember that no one can define me but me.

• I will choose compassion and self-respect over bitterness or despair.

I welcome all parts of myself—known and unknown, shining and shadowed.

I honor my past for what it has taught me.

I trust my intuition to lead me.

I release what no longer serves me.

I walk forward with steadiness, guided by the light within me.

Be well, be present, be at peace.