Horoscopes

Aries (March 21-April 19): If you have the privilege of knowing someone very young, the under 8set will be especially wise and wonderful teachers today. (Though their methods are unorthodox to say the least.) Taurus (April 20-May 20): Spend more time with people who live the way you want to live. This isn’t always possible in your immediate environment, but you can make it happen in your mind through reading and study. Gemini (May 21-June 21): Friction is the enemy of connection. Movement doesn’t help either. To glue two pieces together, you have to hold them still in one place long enough for the bond to set. People are like this, too. They bond in the still, silent pauses. Cancer (June 22-July 22): For one as sensitive as you, it’s hard to imagine how some people have zero empathy. Whether you want to or not, you vividly sense the feelings of others. In fact, today you won’t know where theirs end and yours begin. Leo (July 23-Aug. 22): Your message is genuine. You may decide to use different words to be better understood. The wise use their education of language to communicate well, while the foolish use their literary education to alienate and impress. Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Read the room. If this isn’t a good audience for you, find a different one. It’s harder to feel good about what you have to offer when you’re around people who don’t know enough to give it the value it deserves. Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 23): The main difference between the gambling that’s called business, and the business that’s called gambling is the odds. Today, all the business you do will come with some degree of risk, but not all of it will qualify as a gamble. Scorpio (Oct. 24-Nov. 21): There are questions you thought you answered years ago that have somehow re-seeded themselves and sprouted into a hardier variety. You can’t come to terms with this in a day, but start digging and eventually you’ll root it out. Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Whether your opinion happens to be in line with the majority or the minority doesn’t really matter. What matters is that it feels right to you and that you’re not too worried about who else agrees. Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): No one can tell a wildflower where to grow. It can pop right through pavement if it wants. Something in you is similarly unstoppable. It may not be the season yet, but it’s curled up, gathering strength, waiting for the right time. Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): You’ve seen too much of life to have a strictly sunny outlook. You know the shadow is there, and you’re not afraid to peer into the dark. But you don’t let the darkness seduce you either. You’ll train your mind to move toward the light. Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20): This thing pitting you against you has to last a lifetime. As with any long-term relationship, sometimes it will be a real slog. Drop the adversarial stance and commit to being a better more forgiving and supportive friend to yourself. DEAR ABBY >> I am ashamed to admit this, but years ago I had an affair with a married man. His wife had no idea, but all of his friends knew about it. She recently left him because she met someone else, and he’s not only bad-mouthing her, but also using it against her in their divorce.

Would it be wrong of me to help her by letting her know he was a big cheater? I don’t want to cause her any more hurt than she’s already experiencing. I no longer have any interest in him, but I think the information might help her. I genuinely feel for her.

— Karma out East

DEAR KARMA >> I genuinely feel for her, too. By all means volunteer the information. And when you do, do NOT do it anonymously because if you do, her almost-ex can claim the information isn’t credible.

DEAR ABBY >> With the holidays approaching, I want to share with you the solution to a holiday problem. When our kids grew up and started their own families, I had read many letters from young couples caught in the middle of a battle over where to spend Christmas. So I decided to start a new family tradition. We celebrated Christmas at Thanksgiving. We put up the tree and had all the family presents wrapped and ready to exchange underneath.

It was a win-win! We got to share Christmas with family, watch our grandkids open their presents and enjoyed the holiday turkey with all the trimmings. The grandkids got two Christmases, and our kids enjoyed a guilt-free Christmas with their in-laws.

As for us — we spent Christmas with other people who, for whatever reason, couldn’t spend it with family. It worked for years, and my children now continue the tradition. — Happy holidays without

conflict

DEAR H.H. >> You came up with an excellent solution. Thinking outside the box is a trait that can be extremely helpful in ensuring the success of the holiday celebrations.

For many reasons, not everyone celebrates the holidays on their designated calendar days, and that includes Thanksgiving. If more families took a page out of your book, it could eliminate much of the holiday stress regular readers of my column suffer. Thank you for taking the time to write.

DEAR ABBY >> I enjoy going to movies, especially to the theater in town where I can reserve my seat ahead of time. I recently reserved my seat two days in advance to a movie I had been wanting to see. When I arrived at the theater, a woman was sitting in my seat. I politely pointed out to her that she was in my seat, and she glared at me and said rudely, “Really?”

Granted, the row was empty at the time, but it was still early. I knew more people would show up, and I didn’t want to take someone else’s seat. So I replied, “Yes, REALLY. I reserved this seat days ago.” Was I right asking her to move? More people did show up, and the theater was full.

— My seat in New Mexico

DEAR MY SEAT >> Yes, you were right. And if the woman had refused to move, you should have asked an usher to “clarify” your seat assignment for her and ensure she complied.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.