Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photo: Getty Images
On Sunday evening, the last quarter moon in Libra could make it difficult to find common ground with the people around you — but any tension you’re experiencing now is just part of the process. If you can work through irritation or misunderstanding , your relationship will be stronger than it was before. Then, on Tuesday, expect some stress as Jupiter and Saturn (in analytical Gemini and intuitive Pisces, respectively) square off. You may face big questions about your future, especially if you’ve been burying your head in the sand and silencing your doubts. But if you face your uncertainty with courage and curiosity, you’ll find clarity and strength on the other side.
Most of the time, you’re good at living in the present, meeting each moment as it comes. But this week, you might feel stuck in the past. You worry your future will be determined by decisions you’ve already made, that it’s too late to alter the course of your life. But while your history is important, it’s not the only thing that matters. You’re learning and growing, meeting new people, making meaningful choices every day. Your daily actions still matter, so don’t give up.
This week, you might feel guilty for not doing enough for the people in your life: You wish you could be more present, more giving, more helpful. Even if you aren’t worried about anything specific, you can’t shake the vague sense that you should be contributing more. It’s possible that others are demanding too much of you, but just as likely that you’re demanding too much of yourself. If you hold yourself to impossible standards, you’ll perpetually feel that you’re falling short. Remember that nobody needs you to be a hero; your best effort is enough.
When you have an inflated sense of your own importance, it’s easy to make mistakes and misread interactions with others. You understand this well, and you’re mindful of overconfidence. Just remember, this week, that thinking too little of yourself has its own dangers. If you don’t set high enough standards, you may be persuaded to accept much less than you deserve. Stop trying to take yourself down a peg: You’re allowed to love yourself.
You could struggle to complete a task that “should” come easily this week; conversely, you could breeze through one that seems outside your natural talents. Either way, you might discover that you possess gifts you didn’t know you had, or that certain skills no longer benefit you. The important thing is that you give yourself permission to grow. Trying hard to remain the person you used to be is a pointless exercise; if your interests have shifted, be brave enough to lean into the new.
Although you might not be loud or showy about it, you’re strong-willed and a natural leader. You know how to make things happen, and you’re good at getting other people excited about your ideas. Sometimes, this makes it a challenge to work alongside others who are just as determined and opinionated as you. This week, it might be easy to get stuck in counterproductive power struggles. Do your best to avoid them, and to choose collaboration over competition wherever you can.
When you’re around new people — or those who seem very different from you — it can feel like the safest course of action is to keep your true self under wraps. You put on a friendly face, make polite small talk, and reveal nothing about your authentic self. Sometimes, your caution is wise, but this week, it might get in the way of connection. You don’t have to bare your soul to everyone, but if you’re willing to open up a bit, your courage and honesty could lead to the kinds of genuine relationships you feared were impossible.
You can work tirelessly when you’re fully engaged in what you’re doing; as long as you’re tapped into a greater purpose, you’ll devote yourself to even the most boring tasks. When it comes to projects you’re indifferent to, however, it’s harder to find the motivation to keep going. This week, it might be necessary to dedicate yourself to things you aren’t excited about. Try to stay focused anyway. If inspiration is in short supply, you can rely on discipline, habit, or sheer stubbornness instead.
Intense self-doubt could lead you to get in your own way this week. When you don’t believe you deserve things, it’s easy to self-sabotage and make choices that lead you in the wrong direction. Your challenge right now isn’t to work hard and make your dreams come true — it’s much simpler. All you have to do right now is remember that you’re a good person and you deserve happiness just as much as anyone else does.
Normally, you’re up for almost anything. You don’t worry too much about taking risks and trying new things; you’d rather have to apologize than wonder “what if.” This week, though, you might be unusually resistant to change. No matter how many options are in front of you, all you see are the drawbacks. But, eventually, you’ll have to move forward, so as you plan your next steps, make sure you’re not only fixating on the potential downsides: Remember the possible happiness up ahead, too.
When you look around this week, it seems like everyone else is doing more than you. Their plans seem more exciting, their creative output more interesting, their energy somehow fresher. In response, a part of you might want to throw away everything you’ve been building and start from scratch, but try not to be hasty. It’s easy to get bored with your own ideas, but that’s only because you’ve grown used to them. If you want to make a change, do it slowly, piece by piece, and remember that the newest or flashiest ideas aren’t always the best ones.
It’s easy to imagine that your most valuable quality — at least, in other people’s eyes — is your ability to work hard and get results. Even if you don’t particularly care about material success, you know it’s important to others, so you strive for it anyway. But this week, try to forget about outside judgment and get back in touch with whatever makes you feel most excited and alive. Stop worrying about meeting anyone else’s expectations and focus on the activities that make you feel most like you.
Others often come to you for help, and you hate to turn anyone down. It’s satisfying to make a friend’s day better, and it feels good to know that you’re needed. This week, though, it’ll be abundantly clear that you simply can’t do everything. No one person could manage an emotional or practical load that heavy; there aren’t enough hours in the day. Pushing yourself to do it all will probably burn you out and damage your relationships. Be honest about what your limits are, and be brave enough to say “no.”
Read the weekly horoscopes for the week of December 15. The weekly horoscopes for the week of December 19 will be online next Sunday.
Buy Claire Comstock-Gay’s book, Madame Clairevoyant’s Guide to the Stars, here.
