*all above definitions from Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary

Among the most powerful information that astrology can provide is the suggestion of our personal, individual, unique potential.  If you're a regular visitor to this site, you may have read some of my articles that emphasize the importance of potential.

By their very nature possibilities describe, as in the above definition, "something that may or may not occur".  Thus, at this stage there are never any carved-in-stone foregone conclusions, but rather only possible outcomes.  This viewpoint represents a major departure from the attitudes of ancient astrology that left little latitude for personal expression and was focused primarily on predestiny.  As astrology has evolved, it has recognized the inherent responsibility of each individual to use their unique personal tools as (or indeed if) he or she chooses.  

Possibilities and potential are very similar, with substantial common ground in their respective definitions.  It is important to remember that there are always many more possibilities than can ever be accomplished.  Each decision that we make along our paths influences and modifies all our future options as we move progressively closer to our ultimate destination.  Each decision, however small or seemingly insignificant, represents a fork in the road that then opens up new possibilities and presents us with an ever-changing set of navigational options.

Turning Potential into a Plan

©2006 Don McBroom  All Rights Reserved

The astrologer can work to align and integrate inherent potential and possibilities together, identifying and incorporating the client's strengths and challenges as suggested by the horoscope. After we have assessed the influences of possibilities and potential, they can then be meshed together and modified by our personal passions and motivations to establish our priorities.  This is a crucial step in any client's interaction with their astrologer.  Regardless of the possibilities and potential present, the client must decide where their passion and personal priorities lie.  If the chosen direction does not represent a priority, the likelihood of its success diminishes dramatically.

Your astrologer shouldn't make your decisions for you, but should help you to objectively focus on a decision-making process that is consistent with your priorities.  A significant byproduct of establishing our priorities is that, by default, we must determine what isn't a priority in our lives.  Our efforts are then less likely to be diverted or diluted by extraneous pursuits that aren't really that important to us.  

After we have decided on our personal priorities, decisions can be arrived at more easily, our energy is more focused, and our time can be allocated more efficiently.  In the process, our potential and our priorities have been made more probable.  We can finally begin to envision an end point or goal as a well-defined reality rather than merely as a sketchy, unfocused daydream.  You may wish to review Setting Priorities or Reevaluating Priorities on this Web site for related discussions.

Once we buy in to the concept of what we can realistically accomplish, we can then devote more time and energy toward developing a specific plan designed to reach our goals.  This step is where things really get exciting.  We begin to fill in the timeline of what needs to happen next, visualizing and delineating a sequential flowchart that allows us to focus on the most urgent steps while still maintaining an overview of our plan.

The progressive fine-tuning represented by the pyramid diagram above symbolizes the process by which we can narrow down an almost unlimited number of possibilities into a detailed and structured plan that leads us to our goals.

Your astrologer can provide significant insight and direction to guide the formulation and development of your specific plan, based on your potential and possibilities and defined by your priorities and passion.  

©2001-2006 Don McBroom - Personal Astrological Consultations - Tucson, AZ (520) 298-3456

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