The Number "3"

Personal happiness and fulfillment are this year's themes. And yet now, here you are, face to face with a major source of unhappiness - a situation that is far from fulfilling. Last year taught you the value of patience and, this month, you can ease a lot of frustration by incorporating it as far as your long-term goals are concerned! You may find yourself working very hard, physically, mentally, or emotionally, as you encounter a barrier to your happiness that can no longer be ignored or tolerated.

Your limits have been reached and it is very clear that things cannot stay as they are. No matter how angry, hurt, or afraid you feel, aggression cannot help matters, but that does not mean you should not make your feelings known. It is possible to be both assertive and diplomatic. No matter what the situation, approach others in a peaceful way and try to create an atmosphere in which everyone involved can express themselves with ease.

This cycle urges you to start simplifying your life - making it easier - not more complicated - and this means facing realities that you've been avoiding. It also means being practical, getting organized, and using existing resources to get what you need. Be inventive. For instance: selling unwanted items may help bring order to your finances. Combining your efforts with someone else can accomplish a task that neither of you could accomplish alone. If you need to rest, REST! Take some time off - without guilt - and don't take it too personally if a certain responsibility is taken off your hands.

Frustration (anger) is building because so much emphasis was placed on others last year that your basic needs and desires have been neglected. But it is not a matter of changing other people. A change must take place within you to which others will have to adapt. This includes changing the way you react to other people. Despite the fact that certain people and situations were constantly grinding on your nerves last year, you had to be very patient - to the extent that many of your feelings were ignored and shoved back down inside you.

Acceptance of these buried feelings can help you develop an optimistic frame of mind and the courage to take charge of your own life - even if the people closest to you seem to be undermining you right now. The real problem is that you want to please these people and your not pleasing them is making you feel guilty. Guilt turns love into resentment, and then into hatred. It prevents you from experiencing anything that feels good. Guilt tells you that feeling good is wrong. Then it contradicts itself by telling you that you were foolish for not doing what you wanted to do in the first place.

There is no such thing as healthy guilt. If your intention is to be loving, and this includes being loving to yourself, then guilt must not be allowed a place in your life. Guilt's theme song is "I'm damned if I do, and I'm damned if I don't", and it's not a pretty tune.

Self-acceptance is the only antidote to guilt, and that means accepting your right to exist as you are - which is the ultimate lesson of the 3 year cycle. The potential for happiness is all around you and you must get out of the box you think you're trapped in and reach out for it. Ask yourself: "What will make me happy? What do I want?"
Certain plans and ideas can now be put into action. January's emphasis on hard work represents the very foundation of this year's journey away from the chains of guilt and toward the joys of your own innocence. Get organized. Start building the foundation for - actually start to create - the life you want to live.