This morning, Mars, still retrograde in Cancer, connects with unpredictable Uranus. If you’re tired of following the rules, this is your time to experiment and take risks. Just don’t hold too tightly to a specific desired outcome: Your plans probably won’t unfold exactly the way you hoped, but if you can keep an open mind, you’ll find joy in the surprises. Then in the afternoon, Mars and communication planet Mercury face off, making it easy for minor disagreements to escalate into full-blown conflicts. Try to be patient with your friends: They’re imperfect, but they’re doing the best they can.

Today, you might feel unexpectedly defensive about your opinions, your life choices, even your personality. You worry that others are looking down on you, or that they’re carefully tracking all of your mistakes and contradictions. In reality, though, people aren’t thinking about you nearly as much as you fear — your defensiveness is more likely a sign that you aren’t totally satisfied with your own behavior. You may discover that you’ve been falling short of your ideals, or that your values have shifted over time. Either way, this is a chance for you to make the changes you need to feel good about yourself again.

On an intellectual level, you know that growth isn’t linear, that false starts and detours are part of the process. But just because you understand this, that doesn’t mean you have to like it. It’s maddening to feel like you’re constantly stalling out and backtracking. But today, the more you try to force yourself to follow a direct path, the more you’ll miss out on important opportunities. Give yourself permission to follow your curiosity, even when it strays from your plans, and you’ll be glad you did.

You’re not the sort of person who tries to control everything and everyone; for the most part, you welcome the unexpected. Sometimes, though, you wish you could control the timing of it all. If you’re feeling tired and overbooked, you’ll want to tell everybody to come back later, ask the universe to hold its surprises until you’ve prepared yourself a bit more. But today, your challenge is to accept that new opportunities and people will arrive in your life on their own schedule. You might not feel ready, but do your best to rise to the occasion anyway.

Sometimes when you’re dissatisfied with your life, it’s abundantly clear what steps you need to take to fix it. More often, though, the answers are elusive. You’d happily jump into action if only you knew what, specifically, to do. Today, consider that maybe you’ve reached the limits of your own knowledge, and it’s time to turn to your community for help. Other people can open doors you didn’t realize existed. Your friends can help you expand your imagination; you just have to let them.

It can be difficult to defy others’ expectations of you. Your friends have well-defined ideas about the kind of person they think you are, and you fear they’ll respond badly if you suddenly break the mold. So today, if you’re yearning to grow and change and test out new ways of leading your life, remember that you don’t have to announce your plans to everyone around you; you’re allowed to quietly do your own thing. Other people don’t have to like or approve any changes you make — for now, they don’t even have to know about them.

You do your best to avoid unnecessary conflict; it seems like a waste of valuable time and energy to spar with the people who are ultimately on your side. But today, try to remember that disagreement and competition can be healthy. Issues will inevitably arise among the people you love most, and the more pressure you feel to have only positive interactions, the more your resentment will grow. Don’t be afraid to speak up: Better to argue openly than let frustration fester inside you.

When you want to make a good impression on new people, it can seem like the best strategy is to be polite and accommodating. You might think someone’s ideas are flawed or their plans foolhardy, but you hesitate to say so lest you come across as rude. But for now, you’ll probably be better off leaning into conflict. Standing up for yourself won’t make you seem rude, but like someone with strong convictions. Your honesty could introduce some friction into the dynamic, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

It could be easy, today, to make big — and not necessarily flattering — assumptions about the people you encounter. You’re quick to believe that strangers are out to get you, or that your friends are secretly judging you, or that the people you love don’t actually believe in you. But while it’s true that the people in your life don’t always have your best interests at heart, chances are you’re being too hard on them right now, so try to give them the benefit of the doubt. When you give them a chance, your friends will come through for you.

You do your best to give everyone a fair shake, but even so, there will always be some people who just rub you the wrong way. There doesn’t need to be anything “wrong” with them; they’re simply not destined to be your best friends. But today, you might discover that those you seem least compatible with share common goals, so try to put your irritation and dislike to the side. Right now, the people you don’t naturally gravitate toward might be the ones with the most to teach you, so try to stay open.

You’re careful to be realistic about your skills and your capacity; you’d rather exceed people’s expectations than fall short of them. Sometimes, though, your caution ends up holding you back. You’ll never learn how much you’re truly capable of unless you push yourself. Today, if your friends encourage you to try new things or stretch your limits, don’t immediately shoot them down. When you try new things, there’s always the risk of failure — but remember that there’s the possibility for wild success, too.

In hindsight, it’s easy to see opportunities you missed at the time — maybe because you didn’t yet have the experience to recognize that you stood a chance, or maybe because you lacked the confidence to seize it. You might even imagine that you missed your one big shot, and another chance will never come again, but try to resist this kind of thinking. The more defeatist you are, the more likely you are to miss the opportunities that are in front of you right now.

Life can’t be exciting all the time — some dull and uninspiring times are inevitable, and the more you learn to live with them, the happier you’ll be. Today, just remember that while every minute of every day can’t be thrilling, you still deserve your fair share of fun. If life feels stagnant overall, it’s a good time to liven things up for yourself. Take the initiative: Make a move, start a new project, ask your friends to include you in their wilder plans.

Buy Claire Comstock-Gay’s book, Madame Clairevoyant’s Guide to the Stars, here.