Take a few moments out of your day to look within yourself and think about what it is you’re here for; what your purpose is. What you want to be remembered for shouldn’t be difficult — It should be part of your daily life; something you’re consciously aware of.

The path, you can change, but the time, you can’t ever get back.

I’d like to be remembered for making people laugh. For making them feel as though I was there to listen when they needed to be listened to. For being a friendly, generous person. For never taking the bad times too seriously. For having a positive outlook on life, for my desire to help people, for doing what I could to make this place a bit better than how I found it.

Your turn.

Slow down for an hour or so today and think about what your list would be. Think about your past, your present, your future. Remind yourself periodically during the day tomorrow that even though you might get another chance to “do-over” your day, you’ll have to use the next minute to regain your ground. Living with meaning makes the journey more enjoyable, more lively, and much more memorable.

If you consider yourself to be a negative person chances are you’ll need more than just a little boost to get your mindset on a positive track; you’ll need to change the way you live, and how you perceive and process life occurrences. You’ll have to restructure what is important to you, and divorce it from what is materialistic and petty; there should be a nice, clean line there.

People hide in a negative facade out of fear, but what they take comfort in is actually their worst enemy.

Friends, Gossip, Family, Putting others down, Love, Greed, Rudeness, Respect, Defeat.

The positive folks probably picked out Friends, Family, Love & Respect right away, and thought about all they have listed in their ‘Pro’ column. The Negative people might have been drawn to the other words, particularly Defeat, and may have seen Family as a source of stress and anger instead of one of growth.

This is where perception comes into play. No one has it completely easy, but if you’re able to focus on making yourself the best person you can be, both mentally & physically, and learn to enjoy the simple pleasures in life, you’ll find living is a greater joy than you ever could have imagined. You’ll be able to handle the bumps and roadblocks easier, and feel connections with others that are more meaningful, and more importantly, more real.

People who choose to ignore their lack of positive energy will have a lot of growing to do later in life.

Life is a beautiful thing and it’d be a loss to not get its full benefits.

You have all the tools inside of yourself to become a better, healthier person. So what are you waiting for?

“Retrograde periods are times for us to slow down and reassess where we are before we move ahead. Sometimes we get so caught up with moving forward, we forget to tidy up the debris we scatter in the process.”

Excerpt from Mercury Retrograde

“When a planet is in retrograde, it appears to be moving backwards in the sky when viewed from earth. Of course it is not actually moving backwards, but the illusion of backward motion is created due to the differing speeds of planetary orbits around the sun. Its effects have been described as similar to the turbulence created in the water by driving a boat in reverse. And just like driving a boat in reverse, the most intense and disruptive energies tend to be concentrated at the point of directional change.

You shouldn’t lock yourself up at home and hide under your bed during a retrograde period. Of course, life has to go on. If you cannot avoid important decisions, making travel plans, or signing a contract, double-check everything, and if possible allow for some flexible negotiation later on. If you work with the computer a lot, back up, back up, back up. Above all — and I speak from experience — cultivate patience. Don’t yell at the call center guy because you can’t log into your internet banking account, don’t lose your temper at the postman when the check you were expecting doesn’t arrive on time to make your credit card payment deadline, and don’t attempt to discuss a failing relationship with a partner during this period — you might say something you’ll later regret.

On a more positive note, let Merc Rx work for you. Merc Rx periods are said to be useful for revision, reflection and re-organization, as I mentioned in my first post. So if you are a writer you may find that while motivation for new work is low during retrograde periods, energy for revising previous work might be quite high.”

Excerpt from About.com – Astrology

What is Mercury Retrograde?
This happens three to four times per year, when the planet Mercury slows down, and appears to stop (station) and move backward (retrograde). It’s an optical illusion, since there is forward movement, like speeding by a slow-moving train — as it recedes, it appears to go backward.

What are the Mercury Retrograde dates for 2009?
The dates are January 11-31; May 6th to 30th; September 6th to 29th; December 26th to January 15th, 2010.

What happens during Mercury Retrograde?
Since Mercury rules communication, it’s said that everything goes haywire in that area — emails get deleted or bounced back, mail is returned, calls go out into the ethers, etc. Some people find that their computers go on the fritz or phone lines go down. I’ve never seen the hard data on this, so make your own observations. It does seem though that miscommunications abound during the retrograde period.

A Time-Out.
Mercury retrograde gives us time to catch up with ourselves, and to look back. Something from the past might return in a different form. This can mean people, ideas or buried insights that need to surface for you to move forward. Often it’s felt as a contemplative time, depending on the sign, a chance to go over old ground again, to claim what you missed the first time.

Be Non-Committal.
There’s a long-held belief that it’s best to avoid making set plans during the Mercury Retrograde. This means being cautious about things like signing contracts, and forming partnerships and corporations. What gets put in writing at this time may turn out to need serious revising after Mercury goes direct. But since tying up loose ends is the domain of retrograde, this type of finalization might fly.

Can you repeat that?
In our relationships, sometimes we gloss over things that pushed buttons at the time, but which we let slide. What seemed not worth the trouble may reveal itself as a major issue in need of our attention. The Mercury retrograde is a time for review, when the underlying patterns come to light.

Back to the Drawing Board.
Some dreams and goals get lost in the hectic rushing around of daily life. The Mercury Retrograde period can be a rich time of reflection on those longings. This makes it a time for the soul to ponder its destiny. You might look over old journals, review your creative work, muse on serendipities of the past that have pointed you toward your spirit’s calling. It can make the retrograde period a time of solidifying a sense of your personal story and where you’re headed.

What does it mean in each different sign?
The Mercury retrograde is shaped by the sign through which it is cast. For example, a Mercury retrograde in Cancer turns the mind toward things like family, home and the invisible emotional bonds that connect us. On the other hand, a Mercury retrograde in Aquarius gives it a different spin, with a review of group dynamics, the larger human community, all from a detached perspective.

Making the Most of Mercury Retrograde.
Astrology is a tool that can make you aware of patterns, like those that come during a Mercury retrograde. Just observe and see what happens, and be open to the past returning for review. If it’s coming back, there’s likely something more to learn or release from it. You don’t have to retreat to the zen monastery, but a little solitude and quiet reflection never hurt anybody

Excerpt from Alpha Life Trends

“Mercury retrograde provides the opportunity to adjust our thoughts, attitudes and decisions about our issues and adjust our new direction as we move into 2009. The adjustments of Mercury retrograde typically occur three times a year (four in 2009) and become similar to a course correction during the flight from one destination to another. The adjustments that occur during Mercury retrograde typically have a theme that occurs all year long, shown by the elements of the signs affected. In 2009 the adjustments that are slated to occur during the retrogrades begin in air signs and return back to earth signs. Thus these Mercury retrogrades take our ideas, decisions and attitudes about specific events and utilize the information to put new processes, contracts, and the like into place.“

I’m going to keep researching this and write more later; in my own words. I’m still new to this concept so I’ll have to gather some additional information to make sense of it all; to relate it back to the hiccups that have resonated over the past month. But so far, very interesting stuff….