Man, I gotta tell you, there was a time, not too long ago, maybe about three, four years back, where I was just plain stuck. You ever feel like you’re just drifting, you know? Like you’re in a boat without an oar, and the currents for both love and career are just pulling you in directions you didn’t even ask for. That was me, alright. My last relationship had just gone belly-up, and my job felt like I was running on a treadmill, going nowhere fast. Every morning, I’d wake up with this heavy feeling, wondering what the hell I was even doing.
I tried all sorts of stuff back then. Reading self-help books, listening to podcasts, even went to a few of those motivational talks. Nothing really clicked. It all felt too… generic. I needed something more personal, something that would hit me right in the gut and tell me what I specifically needed to do. I was talking to an old friend of mine, Martha, over a cheap beer one night, just spilling my guts about how lost I was. She’s always been a bit into the esoteric stuff, not super deep, but enough to dabble. She mentioned she’d recently pulled some cards for herself using something called the “3 de Oro Tarot” for a similar situation, and it really helped her get some clarity. I was skeptical, for sure. Tarot? Me? But at that point, I was desperate enough to try anything that wasn’t another self-help guru telling me to “manifest my dreams.”
Finding My Footing with the “3 de Oro”
So, I went home that night and just started poking around online. Typed in “3 de Oro Tarot love career” and a bunch of stuff popped up. Most of it felt a bit woo-woo for my taste, but I found a few simple layouts people were talking about. The general idea, as I understood it, was that the “3 de Oro” (Three of Pentacles, for those who know the fancy names) is all about collaboration, skill-building, and bringing projects to completion. Applying that to love and career, people were using a simple three-card spread to tackle those areas. I wasn’t going to get a professional reading; I figured, if I was gonna do this, I was gonna do it myself, or at least try to understand the process.
I ended up buying a cheap deck online, just a basic Rider-Waite one, nothing fancy. When it arrived, I cleared off my kitchen table, lit a candle – felt a bit silly, honestly, but I was trying to get into the zone. I decided on a simple spread: one card for my current situation in love, one for my current situation in career, and a third card for the path forward, or advice on how to integrate and improve both. I shuffled those cards like my life depended on it, trying to clear my head and just focus on those two big questions weighing me down. It felt… a bit ritualistic, but in a good way, like I was finally taking a proactive step instead of just lamenting my fate.
- Card One: Love. I remember pulling it and it was the Five of Cups, reversed. Man, when I saw that, a chill went down my spine. The Five of Cups usually means dwelling on loss, spilled milk, right? But reversed, it felt like it was telling me I was actually ready to move past that grief, to start seeing the two cups that hadn’t spilled. It hit me hard because I had been obsessing over my failed relationship for months. This card just kinda screamed at me to stop looking back and start seeing what was still there. It wasn’t a magic fix, but it was a kick in the pants.
- Card Two: Career. Next up, I drew the Eight of Pentacles. This one was pretty straightforward. It’s all about apprenticeship, honing your craft, putting in the hard work, usually by yourself, maybe feeling a bit isolated. That resonated perfectly with my job. I was doing good work, but I was also just grinding away, not really connecting with others in my field or looking for new opportunities. It felt like a confirmation that I was on the right track with my skills, but maybe I needed to expand my horizons a bit, look beyond my cubicle.
- Card Three: The Path Forward. This was the big one. What do I do with all this? I pulled the Strength card. Not reversed, just upright Strength. Now, that card, to me, always felt like inner fortitude, quiet power, and gentle persuasion, not brute force. It was about facing challenges with heart, not just muscle. It felt like the cards were telling me to be patient with myself, especially in love. Don’t rush into anything, but also, don’t just sit there feeling sorry for myself. And for career, it meant having the courage to gently push for what I wanted, to keep perfecting my craft with confidence, and to not be afraid to show my unique abilities.
Shifting Gears and Seeing Results
Honestly, that reading didn’t give me any magical answers like “your soulmate is at the coffee shop tomorrow” or “a promotion is coming next week.” It didn’t predict anything specific. What it did was confirm a lot of what I already felt deep down but was too scared or too muddled to acknowledge. It kinda gave me permission to feel what I was feeling and then told me, in its own cryptic way, to get off my ass and do something constructive.
I started with the love stuff first. The Five of Cups reversed really stuck with me. I forced myself to go out more, not looking for a new relationship, but just to connect with friends, to see some new faces. I even reconnected with some people I’d lost touch with. It wasn’t about finding “the one” immediately, but about rebuilding my own sense of self-worth and finding joy in just being me. I stopped checking my ex’s social media, which was a huge step. It was like I finally understood that focusing on the two empty cups was pointless when there were two full ones waiting for me to pick up and drink from.
For career, the Eight of Pentacles and the Strength card together really made me think about my approach. I was good at my job, but I wasn’t really engaging. I decided to start seeking out new projects at work that challenged me more, even if they were outside my comfort zone. I also joined a local professional group for my industry, something I’d always put off. It felt really awkward at first, but slowly, I started meeting people and sharing ideas. The Strength card was my reminder to be confident in my skills but also humble enough to keep learning and collaborating.
Over the next few months, things didn’t magically transform overnight, but they definitely shifted. I started feeling lighter, more in control. I ended up landing a better role within my company, one that truly utilized my skills and put me in a position to collaborate more directly with others. And on the love front, while I didn’t find “the one” right away, I met some amazing new people and started to enjoy dating again, without the pressure or the baggage of the past. It felt like I finally found my own two feet, charting my own course instead of just being tossed around by the waves.
