Hear Us Roar: 5 Of The Best And Worst Qualities Of A Leo

I don't read my horoscope. Well, not religiously, anyway.

Sure, there are times when I'm flipping through and think, “What the hell? Why not? Let's check it out.”

I read it and pretend to make a big deal out of it, but I really don't put much stock into it. It almost never applies to my life.

But whenever I pick up an astrological book about Leos in the bargain section of a bookstore (where most of those books seem to wind up), I pour over the words and think, “My god, I am the lion incarnate.”

I instantly believe it.

Sure, Leos always want be in control and can be totally melodramatic, but when you make a Leo one of your closest friends, you're absolutely in for one hell of a friendship.

Here are a few reasons why:

Loyal

We Leos are ridiculously loyal. We don't enter into a friendship thinking, “If this doesn't work out, oh well.”

No, we're the type of friends who are in this for the long haul. We believe friendship is important and should have longevity.

someone runs her mouth about one of our best friends, it's high time we set the record straight.

I would never let someone badmouth one of my best friends.

True, I do believe in bullying my friends, but I'm always joking. They know it's out of love, and we Leos will always have your back with ferocity.

However, as a Leo and with that fire, we are also not in favor of being scorned.

We will shake our manes, roar our terrible roar and remind you we're not ones to be messed with. It's that whole hothead thing.

Just don't do us wrong, okay? Sorry, not sorry!

Ambitious

I can say from personal experience that as Leos, we are wildly driven to become something greater than we already are.

We will fight to get what we want, and we will more than likely rope you into something to help get us where we need to be.

We will drag you on our wild adventures and our questionable schemes, and you will definitely understand why we get what we want in the end.

I have heard from a great number of people that my ambition is admirable, and they wish they could attack their dreams in the same way. Blame it on the stars, guys.

But, our ambition can get the best of us. When we're down on our luck, we can be aggressively hard on ourselves.

We don't blame anyone but ourselves, and we will always remember you helped us along the way. For that, we are thankful.

Encouraging

We appreciate our ambitious nature just as much as anyone else does.

It's an admirable quality to have, but we also want those closest to us to have the same sort of drive toward achieving their own hopes and dreams.

For example, one of my best friends just graduated from culinary school and wanted to find a great job.

She wanted to work for one of the biggest female chefs in Chicago before setting out to start her own business.

She wasn't sure it was possible, but I reminded her that unless she tried, she would never know. She's well on her way to securing that job now, and she will no doubt start her business soon.

I want everyone in my life to do what makes him or her happy. And sometimes, I'll aggressively encourage my friends to do just that. We can also push too hard, however, and you can get mad.

Seriously, we just want the best for you and want to see you succeed in your chosen field. If it's too much, you should probably tell us. We need someone to bring us down a notch sometimes.

Entertaining

One of the most common traits of Leos is our need for attention. We like to walk into a room and be right in the heart of what's happening.

We want to tell stories and spin lies to make people laugh.

I frequently tell people my mom almost made it to the Olympics. But when she went through the health tests, they found out she was using steroids. She ended up going into a rage and broke another gymnast's ankles.

They sit there rapt with attention and ask me if that really happened. “No, but wasn't that an interesting story?” I ask.

We want to have a good time, and we want those around us to have a good time.

Sometimes, our egos can get too big, and we can whine we're not getting enough attention.

We can throw a fit when people don't find us as entertaining as we find ourselves and retreat to sulking in a corner.

Lively

Leos have such an intense love for life that we want to see and experience it all. We want to go on adventures and see new things.

We want to eat street food, climb mountains, drink whiskey and watch lights twinkle against the night sky.

We want to jump on planes and drive all night. We want our lives to be as big and as grand as they possibly can be.

Who wouldn't want someone like that in their lives? Probably people who don't want to leave their comfort zones or who are fiscally safe.

I apologize to all the people I have lightly bullied into trying something they didn't want to try.

I also apologize to my poor body for doing and eating things that weren't a good idea just to say, “Yeah, I tried it.” (But wasn't that fun?)

While we're a lively bunch of affectionate people who want to succeed and want you to succeed just as much, we do have our downfalls.

We're hotheaded and can say things we don't mean out of anger.

Yes, we're the most loyal and fiercely protective, but we also don't take getting burned lightly. We take business, friendship and love seriously.

We're always in it for the long haul.

If you're not interested in being a lifer with us, maybe we're not your best choice.

But if you want to laugh, have fun, have something to remember and want some of the warmest love, come pet our manes and tell us something nice.

Just watch out for the claws.