I Am Sagittarius

I Am Sagittarius

I was born under the sun sign Sagittarius on the 19th day of December 1945 on a snowy Wednesday morning at 8:15 am. It has been both a blessing and a curse. I do not remember the age when I became aware of “self” but it had to be in my early teen years. Before that I was just like everyone else, no more than a kid absorbing the world as it came to me. Long before my exposure to the Zodiac, the ninth astrological sign known as Sagittarius, affected my mental, spiritual and my physical growth. My birth date being on the cusp brings other traits from Astrology into the mixture both good and bad.

As a youthful Sagittarian I found that life was full of conflicts between self and reality. I questioned everything set before me looking for the truth in every learning experience forcing me to separate the grain from the chafe. The result was more questions with never enough answers. In the beginning it was very difficult understanding why I did this but now in my elder years it has all come together.

One of my biggest strengths can also be listed as a weakness and that is being extremely blunt during conversations with other people. I am honest in what I’m saying but it is raw language that many people do not understand or want to hear. There is no sugar coating those words and what I say may very well hurt some feelings. I never intend the words to be harmful but being a Sagittarius the words I speak are a natural flow of my thoughts at that moment. It’s been said, “You never have to worry about what a Sagittarian is thinking they will tell you.”

I’m also intelligent but I only use my intelligence when it suits me but I’m always on a quest for more knowledge. If I find another person that has knowledge I want, I will pick their brains to get it but I will also back that up with a computer search to make sure that the information is correct. I misused my intelligence in my youth by not going to college but I have now refined it to be very helpful in my elder years. I often amaze other people with my wide range of knowledge on many different subjects and I am driven by a natural curiosity to build a storehouse of knowledge as my life quest.

I have a spontaneous sense of humor that is unmatched. I will engage anyone in conversation, even complete strangers. In the grocery store I will walk up to a complete stranger’s cart and point out items that they intend on buying, that they need to put it back on the shelf because that food is not good for them. I say this semi-serious and smiling so they know that I am pulling their leg. Their usual response is, “I know it is not good for me, that is why I’m going to eat it.” Wit and measured sarcasm come naturally to me and my intention is to get a smile or better yet a laugh. Fortunately most people are receptive but in my youth I was not real good at it and some people took me way to serious. They wanted to punch me in the mouth, so that is when I learned to skillfully back pedal the words that they were injured by.

My over-confidence has often led people to assume that I am arrogant or egotistical but nothing is further from the truth. It is a fine line that I walk tempered with intelligence and humility to not become an arrogant, egotistical monster.

I am a leader and a problem solver having many times given advice to friends and strangers that was valuable to them. It is the ability to see the big picture that makes this easy for me. I enjoy speaking engagements and developing my own thoughts for that. I am also flexible in my interactions because I’m always interested in a different point of view even if I do not share in the validity of an idea.

One trait that is shared by almost every other Zodiac sign is boredom. Usually a Sagittarian suffers from boredom but that is the one major trait that I do not have. I am never bored. Any free time outside of my normal activities I will use to build a structure in my mind or review several story lines in a book that I am writing but I’m not afraid to take a nap either. So that makes me creative in all things, I’m a writer, musician, instructor and very talkative.

Like all Sagittarians I am very independent and free spirited but fiercely honest and reliable. If no one is going my way I am not afraid to go it alone. In doing that, I do not need other people’s approval, opinions or advice because I’m always sure-footed when others are not.

My independence makes for difficulty in relationships but if given my space I am perfectly content in marriage being very loyal and honest. Partners are lured by my wit and humor but they need to buckle up because it will be a wild ride for them. Keeping up may be difficult because as a Sagittarian I am always 3 steps ahead of anyone.

Jupiter, the planet of abundance, good luck, spirituality and growth, governs Sagittarius. Represented by the centaur Chiron that is half man, half horse holding a bow and arrow, Sagittarius is also known as the archer. A normal centaur is well known for drunkenness, being highly sexual and behaving badly. The offspring of the God Titan and a nymph, Sagittarius was raised by the God Apollo and became a kind nurturing spirit with intelligence far above that of any centaur.

I am Sagittarius.

William O’Neal Stringer