Horoscopes (April 12-18)

ARIES: March 21 – April 20 You're sitting on the cusp of something big. Waiting for things to unfold is driving you nuts. Your friends keep telling you to calm down. The way the stars are lined up, chilling out would be impossible for you right now. The ones who support your cause wish they could do more to help you through this. The tendency to be right about everything makes it hard for anyone to give you their all. If you can drum up an ounce of receptivity, you could do yourself a huge favor by allowing those who care to offer their input and tell you all about what your blind spots can't see.

TAURUS: April 21 – May 20 If you are in a situation that refuses to yield to your intent, you don't have much choice but to back off. It's great to be so sure about what needs to happen, but when it doesn't come to fruit, you have to look at the facts. Once you get clear about where adjustments need to take place, ask yourself if what you envisioned will survive the overhaul. This may be one of those times when you have to cut bait and move into something that has a more authentic ring to it. Be mindful of the company you keep and if money is the operative word, don't let it hold sway over this choice.

GEMINI: May 21 – June 20 You never thought you'd see the day. Here you are, swimming around in the same stew with people who share nothing in common with you. What brought you to this place is a good question. Figuring out how to make the best of it has forced you to look at the last thing you wanted to see. After years of hiding from it, push came to shove and made it imperative. God knows how this will turn out, because the same stuff that messed it up the last time is alive and well in this scenario. Do don't confuse it with money — let love be the operative word.

CANCER: June 21 – July 20 You've kept afloat in a situation that is too changeable for certainty to find a resting place. If you're still in one piece it's because the last few years have taught you to roll with the punches. As you pass through a phase that has you wondering if your Higher Self even has a clue, levels of trust and acceptance will increase to where you finally see that nothing has to make sense or look the way it's supposed to. A month or two more and you will be in a different groove. Don't let what you feel you owe to others obscure the need to focus on things that mean something to you.

LEO: July 21 – August 20 The way people have been acting, it's hard to be sure if you even know who they are anymore. With too many nut jobs expecting you to handle their mess and light up their world, you are all over the place. Those closest to you are probably giving you a harder time than the people at work. Crazy behavior, unreasonable requests, and situations that include a lot of Academy Award-winning drama will require a sense of humor and the ability to detach this week. If you get too caught up in the show you will go nuts wondering how you got to be the ringmaster at this circus!

VIRGO: August 21 – September 20 If you're holding steady it's got a lot to do with a sense of optimism that seems to have overtaken your overly sensible attitude. Within the stresses of your routine, life has a rosy glow. Blasts from the past have showed up to remind you that once upon a time things were a lot crazier than they are now. You are starting to wonder how you got to be such an adult. The potential for love and success are being enhanced by the presence of Jupiter in your sign. To make the most of it keep your heart clear and don't lower your standards for anyone.

LIBRA: September 21 – October 20 As things march toward their logical conclusion you have to ask yourself what made you think you couldn't handle this. Within the next few weeks it would be great if you could stay clear and do whatever it takes to get things in order. Recent excursions have shown you that your best intentions keep you throwing pearls before swine. Attempts to mend fences don't always work. At this point you are reflecting on how getting too involved puts all of your attention outside of yourself. At some point you'd do well to haul back and try to make sense of what's happening.

SCORPIO: October 21 – November 20 It will be interesting to see how fate transpires to bring this to a head. Yes; this is one of those times when you can't hide from the truth. What's tough about that? It has something to do with fear and the idea that sometimes it's OK to bail out. Looking at the way things are will require more from you than you've had to put out in a long time. If there is a way for everyone to win in this situation, stay as close as you can to the truth, and you will find it. Others are hitting a nerve that feels good or bad, depending on the extent to which you can be open and clear about it.

SAGITTARIUS: November 21 – December 20 You took off like gangbusters at a critical time. Believe it or not, going for broke isn't always the best option. You need to look at how life unravels when you overextend yourself. With eight balls in the air, the side effects of an overly optimistic perspective have caught up with the part of things that needs to be steady and grounded. Your private reality could be at the mercy of all of this. Whatever that means, as you get real about where you're really at with things, be mindful of whatever it was that fooled you into thinking that more of everything makes life better.

CAPRICORN: December 21 - January 20 Give everything time to pan out. You have been this sure about things many times before. I am not here to scare you — I just know how things work. When you want something too much, you wind up pushing it away. Be mindful of your tendency to think that confidence is the key to success. You could be puffing things up, to overcompensate for the fact that this might not pan out. A little advice from someone who knows more about things than you do might help. Taking your blinders off won't subtract anything from a situation that could turn into a dream come true.

AQUARIUS: January 21 – February 20 By the time you read this things will be in a really good groove. The pressure that has kept you chained to your post is just about up. As situations give way to the passage of time, your focus will shift to a point of relaxation just long enough to soften your edges in preparation for what won't come to a head for another two months. The trick to getting through this stretch will require you to stay out of other people's business. Let them and their stories keep to themselves. It's OK to empathize, but past a certain point, getting too involved isn't going to help either one of you.

PISCES: February 21 – March 20 Sometimes you have to play games to get things to work out; it all depends. With some people it works better to be totally up front. Use your antennae to figure out how you want to deal with a situation that has turned out to be bigger than both of you. Knowing how to read between the lines would be a huge asset to those of you who are easily led. If you're in any doubt about anyone in particular, actions speak louder than words. There are some who are here for all the right reasons. Don't be too hard on those who aren't afraid to wear their heart on their sleeve.