Horoscopes (July 17-23)

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James Noellert

ARIES: March 21 – April 20

Before you can get out of limbo, there are a few things that need to be cleared up. If you're upset that things aren't going anywhere, remind yourself that this lack of progress means it's time to get real and look at what's in the way. You're smart enough to know that "attitude is everything," but the best intentions and the "happy face" only work when you're dishing them out without placing too many stipulations on what you expect to get in return. For the next few months you're going to be looking at some of the deeper stuff. Only when that gets cleared will you be free to be on your way.

You have too much going on, but what else is new? Lots of things are on the increase. This has as much to do with what's happening to you inwardly as it does with your worldly affairs. The connection between your inner being and the level of harmony in your outer reality is more direct with you guys than it is for the rest of us. If you're fretting over the long list of things that seem more important than they are, give it up. You're getting hit with a raft of good vibes that can't roll in until you let go, let God in, and surrender to the thought that joy is the operative word.

You've reached the end of the line. If things have run their course or there is a sense of ennui about whatever your life involves, it's because it's time to shift gears. The belief that you need to keep up the good work is not necessarily in your best interests. As for what's next? It could be an issue, but more than likely you already know where you want to go. Old stories that relate to the extent to which your parental trips have fed the notion that you are not allowed to succeed, or step outside the lines, will be challenged as you begin to tap into your heart's desire.

Lots of things are coming together. It seems like the minute you stop trying to control every little thing, life falls into place all by itself. For a long time the voice in your head has been hassling you about doing more, or trying harder, or pulling yourself up by the bootstraps. In the moments when you quiet down enough to just "let it be," even your money issues disappear. Speaking of money issues, it looks like you're about to start working at something that you love more than anything. Get used to it, because you deserve this. The dream come true and your everyday life are finally one and the same.

You thought you were fed up with all of this. The sense of being totally bored with the whole ball of wax has been weighing you down of late. Like everything else in this world, boredom has a flipside. The minute you surrender to it, every little thing begins to fascinate. From what I can see, something is about to snap you out of it and show up with a whole new reason for living. What for a while has been so ho-hum will fill up with a desire to head out on a search for possibilities that will allow you to bust through every restriction and go deeper into the mystery.

The business of keeping things cool, calm, and collected is always more challenging when your extended family comes to call. Don't be too quick to judge them. Underneath it all there is nothing but love here, and everyone is doing the best that they can. Beyond that, it's time to start thinking about where your plans need to go. This doesn't mean you're ready to change the whole story, but it's quite obvious that the dynamics in your career and your personal life are being recalibrated to create more space for you, and to give you a good reason to keep on keeping on.

Something has to change or this isn't going to work. When you're dealing with people who either don't know what they're talking about, or who aren't experienced enough to know how to take charge, it becomes necessary to call them on it and set a few standards. There's too much riding on your next move for you to let lesser mortals decide how it comes together. At the personal level, just the opposite could be true. If it's time to play hardball in your outer life, it's time to soften up about just about everything that relates to love, kids, and your internal affairs.

There is so much to contend with. Between keeping things afloat and internal pressures that make you wonder if you're up for whatever's next, a sense of anxiety underlies a lot of what's going on with you right now. You're so good at keeping up appearances, even those close to you have no idea what runs through your head when you fall asleep at night. If you have been able to find words for these feelings, more power to you. Getting to the bottom of it all is the key to breathing easy. Don't let your mind keep you from remembering that everything is perfect, all of the time.

Pay attention to whoever floats across the screen in the next few months. New faces — along with people you haven't seen in years — are going to show up with nothing but good things to share with you. Some of this may be about love and romance. Some of it will be about the rekindling of old friendships. In other instances, people who mean well and who wish you the best will arrive to turn you on to opportunities that will spark up new avenues of creativity. As these blessings rain down, the light that has been lost within you will come alive for the first time in a long time.

You don't need to know exactly what the plan is. (P.S.: none of us do.) Certainty has nothing to do with "the plan." At this point, everything you're up to needs to be reevaluated. This doesn't mean that you need to 86 everything; there's a fine line between regrouping and throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Chill out with whatever you're ruminating on and try to understand that you won't get to the bottom of it until you haul back and see it for what it is. The truth will set you free. Getting in touch with it will involve going back to what brought you here to begin with.

Things are holding steady. Amp up your senses and pay attention to the signs because this could be the calm before the storm. There is no need to freak out, because as you well know, life goes up and down. Give yourself nine months to stabilize whatever is out of balance and take a good long look at where your choices have taken you. Some of you are 100 percent in integrity all the way around and have nothing to worry about. Those of you who have been slipping and sliding, or seeing what you want to see instead of what's there, would do well to snap out of it and clean up your act.

There are a bunch of different issues coming into play. You've made it this far, and what seemed like the right thing to do way back when, has been altered by time and experience. At this point it comes down to this: do you keep fishing, or cut bait and release yourself into levels of uncertainty that offer no guarantee? You've been led to believe that this life you've created is your safest bet. Deep inside something else is calling you to test that theory. Security isn't what we think it is. At the moment it has more to do with trusting life enough to always leap into the great unknown.

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