Let’s talk here about the first quarter of the upcoming year of 2024. We all know about and we talk about “free-will” all the time. It comes up in the readings and well in life in general quite often. But the first part of 2024 will require another more rare superpower that we all have. I say it’s rare because most have a hard time using it, it flies in the face of selfishness and the strong urge to fill an immediate need of some sort. This superpower also has the word “will” in it as coincidence would have it, and it’s “will-power”.
“Will-power” is an energy aspect of temperance. Now I don’t mean to say that the first part of 2024 is going to be frustrating, but I kind of have to point out because it’s sorta my job here that the energy of the first few months of 2024 in general will require on many levels a little “will-power”, a little temperance on all of our parts. This is because there’s a bit of suspense built into the energy itself, maybe anticipation is a better word. We’ve all been energetically realigned as of late, and we’re just coming out of that realignment now, as this week’s weekly reading clearly showed us and even reminded me of in its pre-shuffle section.
Suspense/anticipation energy is tricky even in the best of times. It’s powerful enough to sell millions of movie tickets, yet weak enough that it’s easy for us to overcome through immediate gratification of some kind. We live in a societal energy that’s rather sadly at the moment pretty much made up of a mix of narcissism and instant gratification all rolled up in a ball of anxiety. Hell I can’t even get more than 70% of my viewers to watch an entire reading without fast forwarding and jumping around, and they wonder why they missed stuff. Beyond that I can’t even get more than 40% if my viewers to even come to this blog. And in both instances, the videos and here in this blog, I’m offering up free information, or at the very least a free of charge point of view to at least consider.
When we jump around we miss things. Speed reading a good example of this. Some people say they can retain 90% of the information if they speed read something. But studies beg to differ. They say we take in 40% at best and from there do what most people do with any skill they have, we embellish it into something bigger than what it is. My point is guessing what you missed and filling the pieces with those guesses or inferences is never as good as just not missing any of the information in the first place. Cliff notes or speed reading is NOT reading a book, take it from me, a person who can speed read. Nor is skipping around my videos getting you a good reading. Partial information, fragmented information is dangerous.
The first quarter or so of 2024 has a lot to offer, though on the surface it may seem like not a lot is happening, yet at the same time the energy around us will feel electric, almost magic in a way. In fact under the surface the mighty river of energy is clearing a path of sorts, it’s VERY ACTIVE. And in the process it’s making its way to the surface where we exist. When it reaches the surface it will satisfy our instant gratification needs for sure, as it should happen quite quickly, dare I say with the energy of a Tower.
However in the process of us getting what we want and flowing in some new currents many of you may find the first quarter of 2024 quite frustrating, and you might be inclined to skip around, to take some shortcuts. Whether those shortcuts are spiritual, or on a 3D level such as “saying yes to the dress” so to speak too quickly because you’re bored and you want IT whatever IT is, NOW!! Those shortcuts while okay in the moment will come back to bite you HARD in the ass when the newly cleared and refreshed energy reaches the surface around the 2nd quarter of the year and you get swept away by it. It’s a bit like me saying. Basically what I’m saying is the energetic river waters show up quickly when they finally reach the surface, and you’ll want to make sure you have a fully constructed raft and not just part of one when they do.
So (just a tip, but) “will-power” will be required in the first quarter or so of 2024. Put simply this will involve holding out for the best, even though you are presented with some kinda okay options while you’re waiting. That applies in the 3D, emotionally, or spiritually for some of you. If you want to thrive you must put down the instant gratification urge. If it’s a spiritual journey you’re on or simply information you’re receiving in the first quarter or so of 2024, you’ll want to be sure you dig deeper than the surface. When you think you’ve figured something out, or understand something, put a pin in it, because more information will be coming. It’s important that you show restraint in early 2024’s energy. Don’t jump to conclusions if you get bad news about something for example, because more information will be coming. Try in general not to make assumptions, and worse yet act on those assumptions. In the same way people who skip around my readings miss the big picture and never really get the full message of the energy read, you by making assumptions in the first quarter of 2024 will miss the big picture, which in time will reveal itself if you just have a little “will-power” i.e. self-control, i.e. discipline, i.e. temperance.
Most adults these days have the same energy as children did when I was kid. On one hand this is nice, it shows a youthful exuberance, but what’s alarming is there is no grown-up in there at all, so there’s no balance and balance of energies is always required. Most adults these days in the current energies are all a bunch of kids in the back seat of the car asking over and over again, “are we there yet?” It’s like they’ve learned nothing from that old Adam Sandler movie “Click”. Which actually had a lot to teach us in-spite of the silliness of it. Plus it has Christopher Walken in it, so that alone makes it worth paying attention to. But I digress…
That said, let’s talk about marshmallows. Why is this article titled, “The marshmallow test??” What’s that about?? Well…. in psychology there’s an old test of will-power. It was first done many decades ago on children. It is affectionately known in the psychology community as “The Marshmallow test”.
Basically you have a child 5 or 6 years old maybe 7 etc. alone in a room with 1 single marshmallow. It’s a timed test of will-power. Let’s say it’s an hour for example. It works basically like this. You tell the child they can eat the marshmallow during the hour test period if they want to. BUT,,,,, if they don’t eat the marshmallow and can hold out for the entire hour they’ll get a second marshmallow at the end of the test, and then they can eat them both of them. BUT,,,,, eat the marshmallow in front them during the hour long test, they won’t get the second marshmallow at the end of the test. So they’ll have nothing to eat after the test is over.
Spoiler alert……. most of the kids fail this test and eat the fucking marshmallow. For a few it’s gone 2 minutes into the test. And this is why I’m writing this blog article. Most of the kids dove for the instant gratification of eating the marshmallow. That’s short-sighted.
And that’s most grown-ups these days in our society. There’s an impatient energy around in the air so to speak. It drives me nuts, I hate it. Because I’m not like that, so I usually block it out when I have to leave the house. 30 years ago you had to go to a pre-school to feel this level of impatience. Now it’s just there as part of the societal energies.
Will-power is about sacrificing in the short-term, to gain in the long-term. And that formula will help you with the energy of the first quarter of 2024. You may not enjoy the journey as much, it might seem boring. But the destination is well worth the discomfort. If you keep that in mind, you’ll be all set.
On the plus-side you’ll get a lot of new energies and opportunities coming your way in the first part of 2024. Dig deep, and try to avoid that ever present instant gratification energy. Hold out for the best. Pretend you’re part of a marshmallow test, and take the long-view rather than the short view. 2 marshmallows are better than 1, and you WILL get 2 if you can control yourself.
As an aside, the marshmallow test can be used and is often used for anyone trying to quit a bad habit or make a lifestyle change of any kind. Everything from biting your nails to drinking and smoking. It works for some, but not for others, it depends on your personality type. It’s a test often used to help procrastinators change their lives, and it’s also often used to help people lose weight. At its core it’s a test of “will-power”
So if it suits you to do so for some reason, try running a “marshmallow test” on yourself. Put simply it’s a test/task that operates under the premise of, “if I can refrain from doing this (whatever this is for you) now, I will be rewarded later.” And that reward can be multiples of what you’re not getting in the now, or some other treat.
In closing I’ll say this. Basically the first part of 2024 is a great big giant marshmallow test. We’ve actually got many chances to succeed throughout the coming year, but the beginning of the year will set the stage in a big way.
While these chances for success in 2024 are not our last chances “yet”, I think it’s wise to approach “every chance” to succeed as though it’s the last chance. And that means being a little methodical in our approach. If you need a card for reference, I’ll say that if you can’t muster Temperance, at least be the Knight of Pentacles
— Cheers
