On Thursday afternoon, Mars retrograde ends after a punishing ten weeks of roadblocks, accidents, and conflict. If plans you made during this period went sideways, if your confidence went missing, if you seemed to be in a constant state of fight or flight, rough astrological conditions deserve at least some of the blame. But those conditions are finally improving. After what felt like an eternity of bad luck and missed opportunities, things are starting to go your way again. Don’t get cocky, though — Mercury is still retrograde for another week.

You have a gift for seizing the moment, for acting on instinct. When opportunities present themselves, you dive in headfirst. When romance blossoms, you don’t get tangled up in worries about whether or not it will last forever. That said, remember just because you often choose not to carefully prepare, that doesn’t mean you lack the ability to do so. You’re smart and capable, a force to be reckoned with. If there’s something you really want in the future, don’t merely hope for the best. Make a plan. Bring the life you want into being.

It’s possible to do everything “right” (follow the social rules, hit the prescribed milestones of adulthood, never set a toe out of line) only to find that, in doing so, life has lost its sparkle. It’s possible to reach your goals, only to find that you aren’t as gratified as you’d hoped. This week, if your days seem dull, it’s on you to find your thrills where you can. Worry less about being perfect and more about enjoying yourself. It’s possible to take care of your responsibilities, to have integrity, and to have fun, all at once.

Once you’ve decided to make a change, you want to take action immediately. Lately, though, it’s been hard to do that. Unexpected barriers have slowed you down; other people have gotten in the way. It’s been frustrating, to be sure, but consider that it might also be a gift. You’ve had the chance to check in with yourself, to adjust your expectations, to be sure this is what you want. Now, finally, you can take the leap.

There are plenty of people in the world who would do well to care more about those around them and pay more attention to the ways their actions affect others. You, on the other hand, could stand to worry a little less. It isn’t your job to be liked by everyone all the time. Caring too much about other people’s opinions is exhausting and makes it impossible to be true to yourself. This isn’t to say that you should become thoughtless or rude, only that you’re allowed to make unpopular choices, to be a little selfish sometimes.

Even if, overall, things have been going well for you, there is most likely one area of your life where you’ve felt stuck. It could be your career or your romantic prospects, but it could also be more nebulous. Maybe your creativity is at a standstill; maybe your confidence, in general, has gone dormant. Whatever it is, this week, you’ll sense a breakthrough on the horizon. Your courage is returning and your morale is improving. Don’t ask yourself to accomplish anything major yet. Instead, take a moment to enjoy the knowledge that a lovely new phase is about to begin.

There are good reasons to avoid people and situations that stress you out or make you feel bad about yourself. After all, you’re under no obligation to challenge yourself all the time. Life is tough enough as it is. Still, conflict can be constructive in the long run. This week, reconsider the people you’ve been steering clear of, the battles you’ve been running away from. Maybe staying away is still the best course of action. But it’s also possible that this is your moment to stand your ground.

You probably haven’t been getting enough attention lately. You might not want to admit this to yourself, imagining that you should be self-motivated and self-contained, that it’s shameful to need validation from others. In reality, though, we all need to be noticed and heard. So if you’ve been feeling overlooked, that’s not a weakness on your part but a sign that your normal human needs aren’t being met. You’re allowed to take up space in the world. This week, put yourself out there so that you can be seen in the way that you yearn for.

You have a habit of undervaluing your own talents, your gifts, your accomplishments. It’s not that you’re coy or overly modest. That isn’t your style. But you can be so laser focused on completing the next project or reaching the next milestone that you don’t stop to appreciate how much you’ve done already. Others in your life look at you and see how wise and powerful you are; when you look at yourself, you see what you’re still lacking. When you start to doubt yourself, or to despair over all the work that remains, try to see yourself through the generous eyes of the people who love you.

When you’re feeling antsy and tense, like you have been lately, it helps when you can point to a tangible cause, like a conflict with a loved one or a stressful dynamic at work. It’s much harder when your dissatisfaction has no clear cause, when you don’t know what you need, only that you need something. This week might be one of those strange and difficult times when there’s nobody to blame and no dragons to slay, when everything is a little … off. Don’t worry. It won’t last forever.

Though you’re brimming with emotions, ideas, and beliefs, what matters most, as far as you are concerned, is what you actually do. The everyday choices you make, the courageous risks you take, the acts of kindness you perform, these are what determine who you are. And so it can be hard to hold onto your sense of self when life slows down and you aren’t given chances to shine. This week, know that you’re worth more than what you can produce or show to others. The thought counts, too.

As much as you yearn for kindness and warmth, you’re not always good at accepting it. It feels safer and simpler to keep people at arm’s length, to be friendly and sociable, sure, but to maintain a degree of emotional distance all the same. This week, though, you might be surprised by how satisfying it is to make space in your life for intimacy. You don’t have to up and share your deepest secrets or drop your defenses indiscriminately. Do keep in mind that, much as you may try to deny it, you have a soft side, too, and you deserve to express it.

Lately, everything around you feels fragile. The universe keeps reminding you, sometimes in painful ways, that you can’t take any of it for granted. Structures, relationships, the path you’re on — it could change in an instant. And while you’re aware that all that is good and sweet in your life could break without warning, it’s important this week to remember that the bad stuff changes too. The future is more open-ended than you realize. Unexpected transformation doesn’t only happen for the worse. It might end up being beautiful, miraculous, and exactly what you need.

Read the weekly horoscopes for the week of January 2. The weekly horoscopes for the week of January 16 will be online next Sunday.

Get Claire Comstock-Gay’s book, Madame Clairevoyant’s Guide to the Stars, out now.