People all over the internet are attributing occurrences in their daily lives to Mercury being in retrograde. When it occurs, bad things may only happen. It has become associated with the feeling that our lives are not in our control since the stars are not aligned.

It is easy for us to attribute Mercury in retrograde to happenings in our lives that are not going our way. Maybe you got into a disagreement with a friend or you made a decision that you ended up regretting the next day. Whatever the bad thing is, we sometimes choose to believe what we want to. Perhaps because it is convenient for us at the moment. We do not have to put any blame on ourselves and that maybe we won't have to deal with our own problems.

You can keep blaming Mercury but I did some research to see if Mercury in retrograde plays a larger role in our lives than we are led to believe or if it is simply a myth that we like to believe.

Mercury is known for being the planet of communication. It is the messenger and appeals to logic, reasoning and rationalization. When Mercury is in retrograde, it is believed that all of the logic and reasoning is not present. Astrologers advise people to avoid starting something new and instead, reassess and reevaluate current situations.

Mercury in retrograde occurs four times this year. The term "retrograde" in this instance refers to a perceived reversal in the standard west-to-east movement of Mercury through the stars.

This year, Mercury will be in retrograde the following dates.

Dec. 19, 2016 to Jan. 8, 2017

April 9 to May 3, 2017

Aug. 12 to Sept. 5, 2017

Dec. 3 to Dec. 22, 2017

During that time, the smallest planet in our solar system will appear to rotate backward in the sky. A planetary astronomer and professor at UCLA said that Mercury in retrograde is only an optical illusion. The illusion occurring is due to Earth's position relative to Mercury. All of the planets rotate around the Sun in the same direction and all of the planets will appear to be in retrograde at some point so there is nothing unusual or special about Mercury in retrograde.

Although there is no science supporting that Mercury in retrograde is the cause of our problems, it is still a great time to reassess and reevaluate ourselves.