You may feel more defensive than usual today, and your interactions with others will likely be somewhat strained. Your need to justify your right to think and believe as you see fit can cause you to misinterpret the curiosity exhibited by people you encounter. Though you may feel that they are challenging your values, in all likelihood they are doing nothing more than expressing an interest in your personal philosophy. If you temper your righteousness with a healthy dose of reality today, you may find that you can spend time with individuals from all walks of life without feeling the need to defend your ideology.

When we choose not to regard differences of opinion as challenges to our personal values or belief systems, we can engage in meaningful conversations with people from different backgrounds and cultures without feeling defensive. Our understanding of the nature of diversity allows us to respond to questions about the ideologies that shape our lives without responding reactively to those who simply wish to know more about our thoughts and feelings. Instead, we are pleased to participate in friendly debates because we instinctively know that those whose views of the world differ from our own are not trying to convince us that we are wrong but that they want to better understand our spiritual and intellectual positions. The suspicious and self-protective mood you are in today will not last long when you remind yourself that curiosity need not represent a challenge to the legitimacy of your personal philosophy.