On Wednesday, a full moon in serious Capricorn marks the culmination of work you’ve been doing for a while. Perhaps a major creative project is nearing completion, perhaps personal growth is finally paying off. This is not necessarily the end of anything, but a moment to acknowledge that you have come a long way and that your efforts have not been in vain. It’s also an opportunity to gain clarity about where you want to go next. You may find that your desires have changed while you weren’t looking. If they have, take this opportunity to be brave and step into the unknown. If you’re frustrated with your work, feeling down about yourself and your abilities, the problem may be that you’re trying to do too much, too fast. When you set impossible goals or unreasonable timelines for yourself, you will naturally end up disappointed. You may worry that haste is necessary. But time spent exploring and learning is not wasted as long as you keep moving forward, no matter how arduous. This week, see what happens if you take things a little slower or commit to doing a little less. You might start to make the progress you’ve been wanting. It could become fun again. You’re not easily shaken by rudeness or hostility, but that doesn’t make it okay for others to treat you badly. You can hold your own in the most inhospitable environments, but that doesn’t make you any less worthy of kindness and support. It’s easy to get used to the way things are, lower your expectations and move on. This week, though, it’s important not to adjust so completely that you forget it could be different. You have it in you to resist, to demand better. Everywhere you turn, you see people doing everything they can to control each other’s lives, to shrink the universe of infinite possibilities into almost nothing. When you feel pessimistic, you wonder if it’s worth resisting. But this week, your fatalism will fall and in its place will rise a fierce, indomitable stubbornness. No one can dictate your life or tell you what you are and are not capable of. You don’t know what the future holds, but you know it will be what you choose for yourself. Everyone, no matter how wise or experienced or careful, needs a second opinion sometimes. We all do things wrong in ways that others can see but we can’t. The problem is that you can be a little stubborn in your desire to prove that you can succeed on your own. This week, do yourself the kindness of seeking help and feedback from people you trust. You don’t get extra credit for refusing the help offered, and you don’t get bonus points for finding the right answers on your own. Let others support you as you do them and it will make you both stronger in the end. There are too many people who will try to convince you that you are foolishly idealistic because you think your life could be better, that trying to make a change is a waste of energy. They will argue that resignation is the only sensible option, that defeatism is sober wisdom. When you are tired or discouraged, their arguments start to sound convincing. But you are stronger than they imagine. Stronger than you think. Don’t give up on your vision just because others aren’t brave enough to join you in it. As the world around you manages to get even bleaker, you worry that it’s selfish to keep track of your emotions. You cannot escape the suspicion that to focus on your own emotional needs is to abandon what is outside of yourself, that your personal healing or happiness can only come at the expense of the collective. But that need not be true. we experience the highs and lows of our humanity — from petty grudges to the thrill of new love — in bad times and good times. There is no reason to feel guilty. Everyone benefits when we have the space to take care of ourselves. When you recognize that you have been really wrong or misjudged someone, then changing your mind is one of the great joys of being alive and growing old. But when others pressure you to change, it can make you want to dig in instead, to defend your hard-earned knowledge and experience to the world. This week, you are more than justified in resisting anyone who tries to push you around. But also remember how rewarding it is to evolve and grow. Don’t be afraid of transformation. Let it happen on your terms. Even though you know, mentally, that it’s not true, there’s still a part of you that feels like your hardships are worth it. Try to remember that the state of the world is such that almost everyone is struggling right now — and you are not responsible for the state of the world. And even if you made mistakes, what you need now is kindness, not blame. This week, if necessary, work on repairing your relationship with yourself. You can learn to be more forgiving, more generous. You’re worth that much, at least. Lately, you can’t stop thinking about how much closer you would be to your goals if you had started earlier. You regret all the time you could have spent developing certain skills or building a community around yourself or just making money. You dream about what could be different today if you started working a year or two or ten years earlier than you did. But it’s important not to wallow in regrets and let your sad imaginings stop you from taking action. It’s never too late to learn and grow, to make a change (even a huge one.) You just wish someone would present you with a set of definitive instructions on how to get along and be a good person. Life would be so much simpler if there was just one authority you could turn to for its stamp of approval, a way to get confirmation that you’re on the right track. Accept that there is no one right answer and that ultimately you will have to trust your own judgment and values. This week, try to free yourself from the idea that there is a standard of human perfection that you must live up to. All anyone can do is try, and that’s what you’re doing. It’s exhausting, to feel like you can never let down, to always fear (and not without reason) that others will take advantage of you once they get the chance. While there are certainly cruel and fearful people in the world, it is not sustainable to live in a constant state of anxiety. This week, it is important to find places where you will be taken care of, people with whom you can relax. The world is full of dangers, but that doesn’t mean you have to deprive yourself of human connection. If anything, it means you need it more than ever. Hard work can be enjoyable, happy. Although you may face difficulties, you are still full of determination and you can say that you are doing exactly what you were meant to do. Lately, though, you’ve been feeling like you’re slacking off, straining yourself to the point of exhaustion without making significant progress or enjoying the journey. This week, your natural inclination may be to push even harder than before and get stronger. But consider, instead, that what you really need is rest—a moment to breathe, refill your cup, and remember what you’re really doing it all for.
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