Horoscopes

Aries (March 21-April 19): Some of the most influential people of your life aren’t the type to readily give advice. They just live exemplary lives, certain aspects of which you would love to emulate — and today, you will. Taurus (April 20-May 20): Smart people seek wisdom, and wise people seek intelligence. Certainly there will be plentiful examples of one without the other today, but not from (well-rounded and deliberate) you. Gemini (May 21-June 21): You’ve been there. You’ve been the source of the long sigh followed by “If only.” But now you’re too busy making things happen for yourself for such sighing. You need to be around people who are the same way. Cancer (June 22-July 22): “Vain is the word of a philosopher which does not heal any suffering of man.” There’s lots of advice out there today, mostly unhelpful, much of it impractical. It only adds to the beauty of a good ol’ to-do list. Leo (July 23-Aug. 22): Though it’s sometimes fun to touch on mystical topics, what matters today more than who you were in a past life or how to interpret someone’s aura is who you are being now and how that’s working with the other person’s need of you. Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): No one knows why, but even hungry livestock sometimes need to be prodded to the pasture. One never knows what might be distracting another person. Kindness is called for. Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 23): The person with the least need of a situation has the most cheerful, relaxed attitude toward it. From this mood, a person can see and attract more opportunity. Today provides one more example of the benefits of detachment. Scorpio (Oct. 24-Nov. 21): There is but one way to draw a straight line between two points. But if the line is crooked it can follow an infinite number of different paths. Do what’s right. Go directly. Get there the easy, simple way. Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): All things turn into fire in the end — otherwise known as “the beginning,” because fire is also the birthmother of all things. Wherever you are in your creative process, it’s a good and necessary part of the cycle. Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): There should be a name for the particular type of anxiety that accompanies technical difficulties. Software errors, password fails, Wi-Fi issues... quickly let it go. You’ll come up with astoundingly creative

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Don’t let work take an outsized role on your sense of self. You’re not defined by your work any more than you’re defined by what you own, who you know, or any other single element of your life. Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20): Maybe it’s impossible to tame that ocean of feeling inside you, but you’ll be incredibly powerful when moments of calm do come over you. Through self-possessed, patient politeness you’ll get exactly what you want.

To write to Holiday Mathis, visit www.creators.com/author/ holiday-mathis and click “Contact.” DEAR ABBY >> I am a 9-yearold girl in third grade. I have problems making friends. Girls my age and older don’t like me much. Boys my age and older seem to be fine.

It’s important I get help in making girl friends. I have three hopeless brothers I really don’t like. My mom said I should tell you what I do like — math, science, dolls and TV. I have crazy hair.

Did you have this problem when you were my age? I think people think I’m weird. — Young reader in Kokomo,

Ind.

DEAR YOUNG READER >> Your mother is a smart woman. She knows how important common interests can be in forming relationships. Because you like math, science, dolls and TV, gravitate toward girls who like them, too. If you do, you may find that some of them are receptive. Remember — all you really need is one friend you can confide in.

As to the rest of your question, at your age I wasn’t part of the popular crowd. I was shy and terrible at sports, so I spent many hours alone in my room reading books. They kept me company and widened my horizons beyond my immediate neighborhood. People at my grammar school probably thought I was weird, too, but many people who become successful as adults start out that way.

You and I have something else in common. I was selfconscious about my hair, too. It was curly and hard to handle because I hadn’t yet learned to style it. But as I grew older, I learned to manage it — as I’m sure you will. And when I reached my midteens I found it easier to make female friends. A valuable lesson I learned was to BE a friend when someone needs one, and to practice character traits I admired in others, such as kindness and honesty. DEAR ABBY >> What should I do about my motherin-law, who has been bumming money from churches for more than 20 years from Ohio to Florida, even taking trips across the country taking money along the way?

I have contacted every church in our area. But they still give her money, which she blows mostly at casinos and on her non-working boyfriend. I will no longer have anything to do with them, which of course is hard on my wife. Please advise. — Ohio reader

DEAR READER >> If you have contacted the clergy in your area about your mother-inlaw’s scam and they still give her money, you have done everything you can. Because you no longer want anything to do with her and her deadbeat boyfriend, tell your wife she should see them without you. You have my permission. DEAR READERS >> Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and no Thanksgiving would be complete without my sharing the traditional prayer penned by my dear mother: Oh, Heavenly Father, We thank Thee for food and remember the hungry.

We thank Thee for health and remember the sick.

We thank Thee for friends and remember the friendless.

We thank Thee for freedom and remember the enslaved.

May these remembrances stir us to service,

That Thy gifts to us may be used for others. Amen.

Have a safe and happy celebration, everyone!

— Love, Abby