2/24/2016

Today's Horoscope

All signs:

Today nothing much will happen to you. Actually, a million little things will happen to you, but none of them life changing. Keep in mind though, that some of those things could be life changing, that's up to you.

Your mind makes so many split second decisions, seemingly on its own, on automatic pilot. This is a necessity in modern life. We are all out there multitasking, bombarded with images and sound, demands from everyone in our lives, dodging cars and whatnot. We can't be expected to put time and effort into every move we make, to examine every word we say.

We turn control over a lot of our life to muscle memory, and patterns of behavior. We give rote answers to familiar questions without even noticing it. We find our rut and we dig the groove deeper day after day as we trudge along a well worn path.

Again, that's not a bad thing all the time. We have our life, and a lot of responsibilities, and we experience a lot of joy along the way. Our tired and repetitious path is almost never a straight line, it zigzags its way through a minefield of misery and delight, and there are riches to be found if we look. But that doesn't mean we should only walk it exclusively.

Perhaps once in awhile we should zig where we usually zag. Today will afford you that opportunity, as will all days. Not that you want to abandon your family, or walk off your job and live in a tree. Just change little things up now and then.

Maybe there's some little thing you've always wanted to do, but just denied yourself, and you don't even know why. A restaurant you want to try, a class you want to take, a hobby you want to look into. Maybe you want to ask the teller at the bank or the server at the coffee shop out on a date, but you're afraid that they'll laugh in your face. Maybe you want to start running in the park, but you can already feel other's eyes upon you and you go eat donuts instead. Maybe you want to buy a sports car instead of a sedan, but you think you'll look foolish and everyone will think it's not practical. Maybe you want to contribute to the conversation, but you think you're just not clever or interesting enough.

You can just do those things. Who cares what others think? Who cares if you get laughed at? Who cares what any person thinks about anything that doesn't actually affect them? Let them stare, let them laugh, let them look down their nose at you. You'll be way too busy enjoying your life to notice.

The stars see all of it, and they see over eons, through the gravitational lensing of behemoth stars and black holes, and they see what is and what could have been. They marvel at all we do, but they weep as they see us deny ourselves and keep ourselves locked in our own little boxes that we made. They realize the universe around us, which seems so orderly and stable, is full of rogue planets and shattering collisions. They see comets swinging by, and sometimes watch as they plummet into the sun.

They see that everything is kinetic and in constant motion, and that there are an infinite number of paths and vectors it all can travel. That's what the physical universe is, and that's what life is, if we allow it at times.

Allow yourself that opportunity now and again. You might discover something about yourself or others. It might actually change your life. Imagine if, in all those moments you held yourself back, you took a tiny leap occasionally and did the thing you really wanted to do. How different might your life be? There's only one way to find out and save your older self the agony of regret over missed opportunities.

The older you get, the less opportunities you'll have, be it that you're tied down by responsibility, or age, or a bum knee, or you've just simply run out of time. Then you're looking back at your life and thinking about what could have been. It's your decision, and that decision can be made today. Take your chance, while you still got a choice.

Leo:

The sign says “10 items or less”. Learn to count.