Ruled by lovely Venus, Libra is all about sweetness and romance, art and beauty, balance and charm. As the Sign of the Scales, one of Libra's great concerns is justice and equality, but this Sign may be even more concerned with partnerships. Friendships and romance feed Libra's soul; a social butterfly (and always a delightful host), Libra hardly ever finds itself without a lover. Those born under its influence truly prefer togetherness to being alone and tend to feel distinctly uncomfortable when single. They even have a hard time when they simply find themselves on their own for an evening without companionship. This marks Libra's greatest Karmic task: To stop looking to others to fill the perceived empty parts of the soul. Librans truly believe they're better off with others' constant support and companionship, and in many ways they're right: Team efforts can often get much more done than an individual, and an evening out with friends can be more fun than spending it home alone. It's the driving need for support and reassurance behind the urge for companionship, however, that is Libra's puzzle to solve.

Librans simply haven't learned or don't trust that their souls are complete as is. They don't need to rely on others for support; they have themselves. However, they often don't realize this and instead commit lots of energy to seeking and securing others' approval. The trouble is, seeking approval can actually be considered a procrastination device. It can certainly inhibit progress if the approval sought isn't found. As a Cardinal Sign, Libra has lots of energy to start new projects and get things going, but its commitment not to proceed until everyone is working together smoothly is unrealistic and may be the very thing that stops the project completely. Libra needs to realize that not everyone can, will or even should get along all the time; when dissenting opinions make tempers flare, Libra would do well to push ahead, even if that has to happen alone.

Differences of opinion and arguments can be very difficult for diplomatic Libra to handle. When disagreements occur, Librans tend to react in several different ways: They might become indecisive, refusing to take a stand as that would be akin to taking sides. Alternatively, some Librans will use their natural charisma to try to charm others into "good behavior." This is fine to a point. Sometimes Librans take their yen for harmony so far they're willing to lie or manipulate just to keep things running smoothly. In the end, of course, this kind of behavior rarely pays off; in fact, it may only further upset that balance that Libra is trying so hard to find. But why place so much important on balance in the first place? It's impossible to make everyone happy and one could use up a lot of energy trying, and all in vain.

Libra must learn that keeping everyone happy isn't the most important thing in life. Furthermore, others' approval is fickle and not to be counted on; Libra would do well to realize that when getting too caught up in wanting to be liked by all. Libra can learn from Aries? brash approach to life about placing less importance on outside opinion. Libra can look to emotional Cancer to learn how to confront feelings, even when they're frightening or uncomfortable. And Capricorn can teach Libra the importance and success of hard work done solo, carried over the long-term.

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