Horoscopes

Aries (March 21-April 19): Your strengths are powerful, so don’t obsess over your weaknesses. Manage them instead. Find a workaround for whatever gets in the way of your excellence. Your trajectory will be a slow upward climb. Taurus (April 20-May 20): You’re highly motivated by the intrinsic satisfaction of accomplishing your work, and the ancillary prizes, while interesting, have little to do with that drive of yours. You’re an emotional asset to the group and a moneymaker too. Gemini (May 21-June 21): So you’ve killed a few plants. That doesn’t make you a plant killer. There are those who think in extremes. Think more reasonable than they. One example is never a big enough sample pool to make a rule out of. Cancer (June 22-July 22): What do you do when the cream of the crop turns out to be skimmed milk? Just keep cooking. Anyway, this no-frills version of the recipe will be a lot healthier for you. Leo (July 23-Aug. 22): When you put more effort into creating and nurturing a relationship, love will be abundantly (but perhaps not immediately) there for you. These things take time to grow. Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): People want the inside story from you, if you’re willing to share it. Your personal experience is much more valuable than anything that can be looked up on the internet. Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 23): You see how beautiful people are when they cannot seem to see it in themselves. Your role will be to give them a clue but not to try and convince them. That won’t work. People have to go at their own pace. Scorpio (Oct. 24-Nov. 21): When you get what you’re pursuing you’re going to feel the same way about yourself as you do now. This is why it’s important to get on great terms with yourself. Check in. What would improve the you-to-you relationship today? Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Your ideas about who you are and where you’re going will be consistently in line with the group’s. There’s a shared set of values here, along with common goals and similar methods for getting there. You’ll get there together. Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): When you’re giving love that can’t be felt and is instead turned back on you, this is not your fault. Those who do not love themselves will find something wrong with anyone who loves them. Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): It’s a day to set personal boundaries, if only to prove that you can. Without boundaries you’ll agree to do things that you don’t want to do and then be unhappily looking for opportunities to get back at the one who “put” you in that position. Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20): If it doesn’t have the potential for a little pain, it’s not really a risk. But no risk means no thrill. Anyway, you’d much rather do something new and mess it up than repeat part of the mildly satisfying past.

To write to Holiday Mathis, visit www.creators.com/ author/holiday-mathis and click “Contact.” DEAR ABBY » My fiance and I have been together for four years. We live together. Recently, I was talking to him about mental health and the benefits of therapy, which I firmly support. He said he thinks it’s a waste of time. When I asked why, he replied that it hadn’t worked for him. I asked what he meant by that (I wasn’t aware that he had ever even been in therapy), and he said he went when he was 12 or 13.

After that, he clammed up. He wouldn’t discuss why he went or share any details at all. Normally, we can talk about anything. I feel like if it hadn’t been important, he wouldn’t have reacted that way.

Since then, I have been feeling distant from him because of this. I’m not angry, and I don’t want to force him to tell me anything, but as his future wife, I’m concerned that he would keep his past from me.

I would like for him to at least open up about the basics. I want us to be close, but I don’t want to invade his privacy or make him feel disrespected. Should I try and forget that he said anything at all? — Torn in Georgia

DEAR TORN » No, just wait a few weeks before you ask him why he reacted the way he did. By then he may be better able to articulate it. You should be aware before you marry him of what the issue was, particularly if it involved depression or molestation.

DEAR ABBY » Earlier this year, my stepmother made it a goal to lose weight. So far she has made no changes in her diet to help her accomplish that goal. She eats lots of fatty foods, uses lots of salt and eats almost no fruits or vegetables.

I feel Dad enables her because he does nothing to encourage her to eat healthier. He, on the other hand, eats very healthy — almost the opposite of what she does. He rarely eats anything fatty and uses salt sparingly. He also eats fruits and vegetables every day.

My stepmother’s weight is an issue. She has several health problems that would improve greatly if she lost weight. I would like to say something to her about her diet, but don’t know how without offending her. I know she would take it personally, and it would make our relationship difficult. What should I do in this situation?

— It’s a weighty issue

DEAR WEIGHTY ISSUE » I think the best approach would be to talk about this with your father. Tell your dad you are concerned because your stepmother’s weight problem is affecting her health and suggest they consult a licensed nutritionist (RDN) about “tweaking” her diet to help her to reach her goal. Because the topic is sensitive, it would be better if he broached the subject with his wife rather than you. While he’s at it, he could also suggest some light exercise activity to start her moving.

DEAR ABBY » How do you tell a well-dressed, sophisticated woman that she has a booger or a hair hanging out of her nose? I have encountered this problem more than once, and I am embarrassed for them.

— Barb in California

DEAR BARB » If you are in a group, take the woman aside and give her the news privately. While she may be embarrassed, I’m sure she would also be grateful that you cared enough to clue her in. (The same goes for someone trailing toilet paper on her shoe, or worse, down the back of her pants.)