Man, sometimes you just keep grinding, right? For years, I was just pushing, thinking success was this far-off mountain you had to climb, loaded with more cash, a bigger title, shinier stuff. I figured if I just kept my head down, kept working, eventually I’d hit it. You know, that big, definitive ding that tells you, “Yep, you made it.” But the closer I got to what I thought were milestones, the emptier it felt. Like I was just collecting things, but not really building anything that felt solid or, you know, mine in a deep sense.
I remember one night, I was feeling particularly drained. Just another Tuesday, another late email, another half-eaten takeout meal. I sat there, just staring at my hands, wondering what the hell I was doing it all for. That’s when I thought, “Screw it, I’m pulling a card.” I’d been dabbling with tarot for a bit, mostly just for a bit of fun, a different perspective. So I shuffled my deck, not really thinking about it, just needing something, anything, to break the monotony.
And what did I pull? The 10 of Pentacles. Now, normally, when you see that card, you think big money, family legacy, established wealth. And my first thought was, “Great, more of the same. Still chasing that bag.” But something about the image just stuck with me that night. I looked at it closer. It wasn’t just a pile of gold coins. It was a whole scene. You had the old folks, the younger couple, kids, dogs running around, this big, grand, almost castle-like home in the background. And all those pentacles, they weren’t just stacked up; they were integrated into the architecture, part of the whole structure. They felt like they belonged.
That really got me thinking. My idea of success had always been about accumulation. Just getting more. But the card, it showed integration. It showed a life that was rich because it was built, shared, and rooted. It wasn’t just one person with a big score; it was a whole family, a whole legacy, interconnected and supported. The pentacles were the foundation, sure, but they weren’t the entire story. The people, the home, the connection – that was the real wealth.
So I started to shift my focus, man. It wasn’t a sudden light switch, more like a slow, deliberate turning of a dial. I began to look at my own life and ask myself:
- What am I actually building? Not just earning, but building?
- Are my “pentacles” – my work, my efforts, my resources – truly serving as a foundation for a life I want, or am I just collecting them in a detached way?
- Am I connected to my people? Am I investing in my family, my friends, my community, the way that card showed?
- Is my home just a place I crash, or is it a true sanctuary, a place where roots can grow deep?
I started with my home, actually. Felt like a good place to start building that “castle.” I started taking time to really fix things up, not just for practical reasons, but to make it feel more like my space, a proper haven. I spent an entire weekend just clearing out clutter, painting a wall I’d always hated, putting up some shelves. Small stuff, but it made a big difference in how I felt in the space.
Then, I made a conscious effort to connect more. Instead of just sending a quick text, I’d actually call my mom. Instead of just “liking” a friend’s post, I’d suggest a coffee. I started showing up to neighborhood events, even if it felt a bit awkward at first. You know, just putting myself out there a little bit, planting those seeds of connection.
My work started to shift too. I wasn’t just chasing the next promotion or the bigger paycheck. I began to look for projects that felt like they were contributing to something real, something that had a lasting impact, even if it was just in a small way. I started thinking about knowledge transfer, about mentoring the newer folks, about building up the team, not just my own career ladder. It felt less like a solo race and more like, well, building a collective structure.
The “aha!” moment didn’t come with fireworks or anything dramatic. It was much quieter. I was sitting on my porch one sunny afternoon, watching my dog chase a butterfly in the yard. My old man had called earlier, just to chat, no real agenda. Later, some friends were coming over for a barbecue, just a chill hang. My place, the one I’d put some real love into, felt good, felt solid. And as I sat there, I realized it. This wasn’t some future dream. This was it. This was the success the 10 of Pentacles was talking about.
It wasn’t about the huge pile of money I once thought it was. It was about the rich foundation I was steadily, intentionally building. It was about the connections, the sense of security, the feeling of belonging, the peace I felt in my bones. It was about the stability and the legacy, not just in terms of wealth, but in terms of well-being and shared life. It was all there, right in front of me, unfolding, little by little. That card, man, it just cracked open my whole idea of what it means to be truly successful.
