8/19/16

Today's Horoscope

All signs:

The stars want to remind you that you never know what it's like to be someone else. Ever.

So when there is someone you love that hurts you to your core, remember that maybe as bad as your pain is, sometimes it hurts them even worse.

The stars are taking about mental illness, and it is a very harsh thing to live with, for you and the person afflicted. There are so many people suffering with it, and when we get hurt by them we tend to pity ourselves. That's okay, nurse your wounds because your pain is valid. But realize, sometimes the horrible things people do are out of their control. Sometimes the shitty way they act is because their brains don't work the way ours do. Some people are sociopaths, and they don't quite understand the pain they inflict because they either just can't or maybe they have been through so much trauma that they can't deal with emotions anymore. And the joke's on them because at that point all they are is raw emotion.

Maybe some of them have been through unimaginable things that you couldn't even conceive of, and would dwarf your tiny hurt feelings. Maybe there is just something physically damaged in their brains that you don't understand, and sure, you can hate them for it, but if you truly loved them you would feel only pity.

That doesn't mean you have to leave yourself open for abuse, or expose yourself to violence or misery.  You can't compromise your own life, or subject yourself to anguish 24/7. It just means you grasp the concept that maybe sometimes it hurts them more than it hurts you.

And that's a really tough thing to comprehend, especially when your heart is torn out and the world has been pulled out from under you. But loving anyone is never easy, and when you do, you sign up for some rough times, so know that going in. Love never works exclusively on your terms, whether it's romance, a child, a sibling, a parent or a friend.

So if someone you care about is suffering from some mental health problem, for a moment you might want to put aside how bad it makes you feel and just try to imagine how it makes them feel. Imagine if you were engaging in behavior that made you hate yourself, but some compulsion you don't understand drives you to do it. Imagine if you could see yourself hurting the people you loved, but you couldn't stop and you don't know why. Imagine if you had no control over who you were, but you lived in that body and got to watch yourself act in a manner that made you sick, physically ill and sick of yourself and torn apart and you couldn't stop and you don't even understand who you are anymore.

Imagine if you lost yourself completely, and were scared and alone and couldn't even trust your own mind.

Because that's just the tip of the iceberg for a lot of people.  God help them all.

So the stars want to remind you that God either can't or won't help them all, so he leaves it up to us.

The stars want you to know that you're here to help; not judge, not scold, not to take everything personally and be petty or turn a cold shoulder.

The stars are firm on this one.

You are here to help.

So dry your eyes, straighten your back, and be a beacon that calls those poor lost souls back home.  Be that home.

That's how you help.