Aries (March 21-April 19)The effects of aging are inevitable. It’s harder to stay in shape, we get wrinkles, and our bodies don’t work as efficiently as they used to. It’s better to have a sense of humor about it than to get bitter, though. The key to becoming older gracefully is to calmly accept the changes that come (although we don’t need to simply succumb to them). Life throws at us a lot of other things that we can’t do much about; handling gray hairs and sagging flesh as you handle those other things (with a smile and joke) will serve you well this week.Taurus (April 20-May 20)When different aspects of your life aren’t perfectly compatible—your faith and your job, for example, or your friends and your lover—it sets you up for some internal conflict. To which, after all, do you ultimately owe your loyalty, should you be forced to choose? How do you share time between these irreconcilable chapters of your day-to-day? This is a question that’s likely to come up more than once this week, and unfortunately there’s no satisfactory easy answer. You’ll just have to sort it out, case by case, and hope that everyone can live with what you decide. Gemini (May 21-June 20)Everyone has chapters in the past that they’re not proud of, or simply feel conflicted about. When and how to share those chapters with someone very close to you is a valid question. Whether or not to share them at all, however, is not. While some things in your past are no one’s business but your own, these particular important bits of your history helped inform who you are today, and it wouldn’t be right to keep them secret forever. Plan on sharing them, and how to best make such delicate revelations. But don’t for a minute think of keeping them a secret. That would just fester and screw things up.Cancer (June 21-July 22)Just because someone goes ahead and gives you a piece of their mind doesn’t mean you have to take it. Your life is full of people who feel empowered to share their two cents about stuff that’s truthfully none of their business, and most of the time you’re too kind or sensitive to completely ignore it (as you probably should). Enough’s enough, though. You’ve been pretty tolerant so far, but it’s time you let them know that their opinions—on this subject at least—aren’t interesting or helpful, and they should probably, finally, shut up about them.Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)When in crisis, people are often moved to do pretty out-there stuff. While this is mostly forgivable (depending on their specific actions), that doesn’t mean you need to participate in those emotion-fueled shenanigans. Your job is to be a benevolent, forgiving presence who can help guide them back to some semblance of normal or regular life. As wild as you can sometimes be, you’ve always had a pretty steady internal lodestar helping you to get back on track when you’ve wandered off. Others aren’t always so lucky—so hook them up and help steer them back on course.Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)Having and maintaining your own space is one thing, and mostly a healthy habit to have. However, when your independence is so pronounced that you have astoundingly little overlap with the people you’re supposed to be close to, that’s a problem. This week, be open to sharing more of your life with your besties. They deserve it. That doesn’t mean you can’t ever reserve time and space that’s for you and you alone, but you can certainly live happily with a little less than you have now—I’m betting, even, that you’ll prove to be happier with less space than you ever thought possible.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)Your approval or disapproval about someone else’s choices isn’t relevant here, so don’t bother sharing it. As long as they’re not hurting anyone (or, especially, you), whether it jives with the kinds of decisions you’d make for yourself is completely beside the point. Chiming in about it anyway will only alienate people and diminish your own credibility. You don’t have to get on board with whatever it is you’re not happy about—but you do have to at least pretend you’re on board, for now. Can you do that? You may never come around, but if you force yourself to be open-minded about this, it may not prove as terrible as you once believed. Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)People make unrealistic decisions all the time. As much as you may try to deliver a sorely needed reality check, it’s probably not something they can hear. You need to simply hold your tongue and wait for reality to go ahead and bite them in the ass. You tried to spare them the painful version of this lesson, but they weren’t ready for it. Instead of saying “I told you so” and kicking them while they’re down, be kind and just help them back to their feet, brush them off, and together figure out their next best step.Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)When a dog moves into a new place, he might pee on all the boundaries of the yard to indicate “This is mine now.” Humans, however, are more subtle and complicated. The space you long to claim isn’t something you have exclusive rights to. Since you have to share it, pissing in the corners will probably not be appreciated, no matter how you actually do it. You need to wrap your head around sharing space, time, and people with those you’d never choose, and in ways you’re not used to. Your resistance is understandable—but not conducive to your own happiness. Abandon it, if you can.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)Of course people deserve second (and sometimes third, fourth, or fifth) chances. That doesn’t mean they immediately (or ever) get carte blanche and an all-access pass back into your life just because they say they’ve turned over a new leaf after screwing up. Trust must be rebuilt. It’s admirable of you to be open to this new chapter for the two of you, but taking it slow is necessary. Err on the side of caution (but eschew suspicion when possible) and keep taking baby steps, and you will have done everything you can to help get things back on track. The rest is up to the other person.Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)As open-minded as you are, you’re one of the fixed signs (along with Leo, Scorpio, and Taurus), and consequently it’s very difficult for others to change you. You can consider every idea under the sun, but when it comes time to actually change an ingrained habit (of thought or action), it’s unlikely anyone else will have much success in doing so. By this point in your life, you should have pretty good intuition regarding when someone is intent on reshaping you in some way; letting them know just how unlikely (and perhaps impossible) that is may be difficult, and even a deal-breaker—but it’s also your honorable duty.Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)Sketchy people are quite adept at finding ways to intrude on others’ boundaries without getting called out. Especially when they’ve gotten away with it once, future incursions are inevitable and harder to counter, especially for you kindhearted Pisceans, who loathe confrontation. However, that doesn’t mean you have to suck it up and put up with this kind of treatment forever, just because you weren’t able to stop it the very first time. This week, step up and defend your turf. If they’re surprised that this area’s now off-limits, all the better; maybe the lesson will have more punch.sign.language.astrology@gmail.com