The 1st Is A Good Day To . . . promise yourself you won’t communicate from a position of hurt–and further, that you won’t inflict hurt yourself. One thing we need to remember about our own part in hurting others is that we don’t get to determine whether someone else should feel hurt by something we’ve done; it’s not up to us to grant permission, or to assess the validity of someone else’s experience. Today’s a day that may test our own ability to recognize someone else’s pain, to honor it, and to apologize, if appropriate–and part of that is refusing to judge the ‘rightness’ of another’s experience.

If your response to this is, ‘Well sometimes others say they’ve been hurt to manipulate,’ I would say, ‘Yes, sometimes they do, but we don’t have to respond to that. Our only job here is to acknowledge that we can’t really know the experience of someone else. If you feel someone is trying to manipulate or control you, you can witness their statement of hurt, admit (to yourself) that you don’t get to judge this, all the while refusing to feel an obligation to ‘answer’ the demand you believe is being made. If you’ve been raised to jump to and see assuaging others’ discomfort as your responsibility, this may be very difficult for you. But learn how to respond appropriately, and you’ll be free.’

A Good Day To . . . is based on the aspects perfecting on each day, Pacific time.

Today’s word image is a one-eyed squirrel so small he fits through the cage around the bird feeder and shares seed as if he’s one of the birds! In what way has seeing yourself as ‘not enough’ made you adopt behaviors you wouldn’t otherwise have engaged in, or hang with a crowd you don’t really feel a part of? Have you judged yourself unable to compete in the arena you really want to be in? Being unique is a gift, and your tribe will (at least, eventually) appreciate and honor that (I’m particularly talking to those who may be leading with these energies: ground-breakers like Aquarius, deep feelers like Scorpio, and Artists like Pisces), so there’s no need for Self-exile–you just need the courage to enter the fray–and then again, there’s nothing wrong with seeing the world from another point of view, and making friends who are very different than you, especially ones who may not entirely understand you–but they accept you, and that’s what counts.