To be or not to be an Aries

When I hear my friends talk about their zodiacs and their connection to the universe I try not to feed into their beliefs. I want to stand out of the crowd and be unique. I don’t want to believe that I’m just like every other Aries out there. And yet as I was challenged to look into the personality characteristics of an Aries I found myself checking boxes like following a recipe. I’m not pleased with that at all. I’m adventurous. I’ve been zip-lining in the Dominican Republic, skydiving in Illinois and parasailing in Mexico. The typical person doesn’t do that. I’m kind and I have a good heart, but most people are only out for themselves. I spent almost an hour trying to convince myself that I was the exception to the Aries stereotypes, then I actually researched my zodiac. Crap.

The first “no way Jose!” I noticed while researching the characteristics of an Aries was the “color” of an Aries is red. My favorite color is red and the proof of that is all throughout my wardrobe, my first car was red, and my favorite accessories are red. I love the color red, even my six month old daughter is infatuated with the color red. I was hesitant to accept I was a typical Aries. This was just a coincidence.

As I continued my research I learned the strengths of an Aries. They are listed as being courageous, determined, confident, enthusiastic, optimistic, honest and passionate. I developed an attitude after reading that thinking “these people don’t know me!” Am I courageous? Most definitely. I am the fearless one of my friends. I have attended major concerts and events by myself. I’ve traveled the country and beyond and even sung karaoke in front of hundreds of people, and killed it might I add. Determined, maybe. I have a lot of goals I’m reaching for and I do have my lazy moments, but for the most part I’m going to do whatever it takes. As far as having confidence, I can admit this is the one I’m lacking. I don’t think I’m the best at anything, I don’t think I’m very attractive, I’m not crushing this mom thing, and I am trying to take myself seriously as a writer but doubt feels me up as much as oxygen does. I try and keep a positive outlook, and I’m a genuinely honest person. When I get motivated and passionate about something I usually see it through. I reluctantly started to believe some of this was true about me. Then I continued researching the weaknesses of an Aries. I just couldn’t deal after that.

The weaknesses list began with impatience… They must have followed me in traffic because this should be my license plate. Moody, insert stale face emoji here. I will not feed into this stereotype because I am an Aries and a woman, how dare they call me moody. Also listed are the traits of being impulsive, short-tempered and aggressive. I can honestly say I’m not short-tempered, I’m surprisingly pretty patient and I’m definitely not aggressive. I can be impulsive and go with the flow, but I’d rather have a plan or a list, not wander around the store aimlessly thinking “do I need this?”

The last set of info is pretty spot on. But I can’t get an attitude about it and continue to feed into these stereotypes that this is me. Even though I love comfortable clothes, taking on the leadership roles, and physical challenges (you should see me at Sky Zone). And in agreement with the list, I loathe inactivity. Do not waste my time. I hate to see people not being pushed past their comfort zone and instead doing mundane work. The best thing I could see coming from me accepting that the traits of my zodiac was confirming the sign I am most compatible with. Leo. My fiancé and daughter are both Leos. Maybe being an Aries won’t be so bad after all.