For those who know me well, or who have read my first article with Odyssey, I needn't tell you that I'm an amateur astrology enthusiast. One of the more significant aspects of astrology that I regularly research is the impact of our rising sign on our overall personality profiles. It is widely believed that your rising sign determines how you may appear to others at a glance, the way you approach life and its many facets, and even personal preferences in regard to aesthetic tastes. I am a Taurus rising with a Sun in Gemini, meaning that at a glance I may seem more reserved and steady in my actions and thoughts, but once you get to know me and see the chatty Gemini side come out, all bets are off!

Geminis are known to possess a dual-nature but are generally believed to be outgoing and charismatic individuals most of the time. Though I strongly identify with my sign, I have noticed an occasional tendency toward reticence in reference to my career goals and professional aspirations. Being the curious Gemini that I am, I started to research my rising sign more thoroughly, hoping to gain some insights into the reasons for my approach to these concerns, and what I have found makes a lot of sense.

Taurus rising folks take a slow, methodical approach to life, in most every arena. We like to feel a situation, place, group of people, etc. out first before we make a move. It has occurred to me on more than one occasion how I seem to compromise my actions with overly analytical reasons for why I should refrain from doing something, versus simply taking a leap of faith; I attribute much of this to my astrological make-up. But what I am coming to understand is that balance can be achieved between the, at times, inert Taurus rising side of my personality and the scatterbrained Gemini Sun side.

Which brings me — in an appropriately long-winded fashion, given the context of this article — to my point: we needn't always aggressively seek solutions to every one of life's unanswered questions. A balance can (and should) be struck between actively pursuing our interests and also letting inspiration come to us naturally. I write articles like these as personal reminders not to beat myself up for my every misstep, as confirmation that I am making progress toward my goals everyday, even if my approach isn't always head-on. Our culture tends to prize aggressive go-getter personalities over steadier, analytical types who weigh their options before proceeding. Neither approach is wrong; both are viable ways to handle challenging circumstances. My goal is to meet somewhere between these polarities, to show that we may get what we want out of life simply by letting it unfold. The answers we are seeking often reveal themselves unexpectedly anyway.