Today's Tarot: Five of Rods (conflict, battle, altercations)

When I was a kid, I had a poster on my wall. It said, “Diplomacy is the art of telling someone to go to hell in such a way that they actually look forward to the trip.” In some ways, that statement typifies the brighter facets of this card.

Yes, sometimes, we can’t help but get into conflicts with others. Whether or not we are the ones who start them, we get embroiled. And except for the Dalai Lama, I’ll bet we all lose our tempers at some point or other and get into it with whomever just stomped all over our very last nerve.

Yep, it would be great if we could all just breathe and let it roll of our collective backs, but sometimes, we just can’t.

Today might be such a day. You might find yourself in conflict. There just might be a battle to be waged and you aren’t going to stop until you have emerged victorious. Got it. I understand that sometimes attention simply must be paid.

But here’s the kicker. If you engage head-on, you will just get a bruised forehead. It will be far better for you to follow the wise words in that poster from my childhood. Breathe. Smile. And then, tell them to go to hell in such a way that they are excited to get going.