Things come in threes or at least that’s what they say. That’s often true in astrology where a planet will approach an aspect to another planet and then go retrograde and then go direct. This can happen 2 or 3 times especially with the slower moving planets like Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Usually the planets are giving you a chance to warm up to the kind of changes that you will need to be making. By the 3rd approach, you should be much less resistant to the influences of the planets.
Basically, the astrology chart gives you a plan to work with. You can upgrade your destiny. We all can. But the influences of the planets are always going to play themselves out on some level. The level of manifestation is where you can influence destiny and use free will. Planets influence; through their own nature, by position, by disposition and by ricochet (to the opposite house and sign).
Mars will always be Mars. But Mars in Capricorn will manifest differently from Mars in Aries. Mars in Capricorn is disposed by Saturn. Mars in Aries is in domicile and therefore manifests itself more true to the nature of Mars because Mars is the ruler of Aries.
Hard aspects are designed to soften our position toward certain situations. If we become more crystallized and intransient, it will be felt much more harshly than if we learn to yield to the forces of nature. We have to struggle to be in harmony with nature and when we accomplish this, things miraculously move in our favor.