In my opinion, the Temperance card is one of the most beautiful cards in the deck, and it focuses on balance and patience.
Let's first talk about patience. All of us have experienced what it's like to want things to happen NOW, or YESTERDAY, whether it's a relationship or finding the perfect partner or job. This card is reminding you that everything will happen in its own time, that you will eventually get what it is you want, but right now the energies are not right for it.
As far as the art of balance, there are certain conventions that revolve around it and what that means. We are taught early on that we are meant to have a balanced diet and live a balanced life.
Vegan ultra-athlete Rich Roll ponders on what balance means. He discusses how when he is training (which he does more than the average athlete), it is not because he is addicted to it, or going out of balance, but that he is honing in on what makes him feel most alive and nourishes him the most.
How he eats and how he has a life with his family all still come into play and fit around this other activity that sometimes involves him needing to go all in.
Sometimes there are things we go all in on that don't nourish us. This is why it's important to look at the areas of your life that create nourishment, and to ask yourself how it is that you can create a life of things that allow you to feel balanced and enriched but still know that if one of them takes a lot of energy and a lot of time at some point, that it doesn't mean that you are living out of balance.
Balance isn't about giving things equal time, but as Rich Roll says, it is “the approach you bring to the activities that enrich your life" that matters. Also, to embrace "going all in" on something is what might actually bring you back to life.
So if you are currently feeling out of balance, mentally and emotionally, instead of trying to figure out the overall breakdown of your day, just take some time to recalibrate yourself. This could involve going out for a walk. It could be meditating (which helps restore you). Maybe it's eating a meal, or calling a friend, or taking a bath. Whatever helps you get the perspective you need, do it.
Also, if you are finding yourself depleted, make sure you are taking the time to explore things that you know nourish you, or things you have not yet tried that may help.
