The Five of Swords sometimes pops up in a reading to show when someone is angry about something, or feeling defeated. It also denotes selfish behavior.
Let's start off discussing selfish behavior. There is the kind where you are being taken advantage of or neglected, and then there is the kind that is necessary to make sure you are doing what's best for yourself. It gets so easy to be caught up in everyone around us, to do what others want us to do, to give to others until we are depleted.
This card is a reminder to ask yourself, “What do I want?" Sometimes we forget to ask ourselves this question for so long, that we don't know how to answer it. In that case, start doing research and see what stands out to you intuitively. But regardless, the first important step is asking that one question.
Sometimes the true answer means saying no to invitations. All obligations are perceived, and while there are times when you don't want to do something, but it is important to someone else, making concessions is sometimes something you have to do.
But if your entire life consists of giving in to other's wishes, stop. Ask yourself what you want to be doing. When you start answering those questions, it is helping you along your authentic path, and empowering you to be your own person. Also, honor this action in others as well.
If this is the selfish or self-centered behavior of another, where you find yourself in a situation where you are being used for their gain, where they are not giving back to you what you are giving out, step back and ask yourself another question: “Is this situation serving my growth and my well-being?" How you feel is a good intuitive gauge here.
If you are around someone, and you leave them feeling depleted, or if you don't feel like yourself when you are around them, this is not a situation you have to put up with. You don't need to dwell on the angry emotions that usually arise from these situations, you simply leave it, so you can make the space to find something better that nourishes you.
As Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes says: “It is worse to stay where one does not belong at all than to wander about lost for a while and looking for the psychic and soulful kinship one requires"
Do not try to maintain a relationship with someone who does not deeply resonate with your soul. Such an interaction eventually takes it's toll, and you are too beautiful, too luminous, to allow that.
So in sum, it's okay to say no, especially to unhealthy situations, and the one thing to always say yes to is your beautiful evolving self and what it wants.
