Don’t just do something.
The white rabbit’s house is burning down and he is completely losing it. He turns to Alice, who he keeps calling Mary Ann, and yells, “Don’t just do something, stand there!” It’s one of my favorite lines from Alice in Wonderland. My best friend and I used to rewind and watch that part over and over again. We’d giggle every time.
Now it seems like good advice.
The oddest conversation
One day a man walked up to me on the street and said, “you have a lucky face.” I stopped at this unusual compliment and said, “thank you, no one has ever said that to me before.” Then we proceeded to have one of the oddest conversations I’ve ever had.
The stranger told me I had too many thoughts and that I hadn’t been sleeping well. He said my heart chakra was closed and that I needed to work on opening it. Then he predicted that when I learned to align my head, my heart, and my soul I would help many more people. He kept pointing at my head and saying, “too much mind, too much thinking.”
We talked for maybe ten minutes and in that short time he had me pegged.
I was too much in my head. I wasn’t sleeping well. He was the third person to tell me my heart chakra was closed in the last two years. I knew why but I didn’t know how to fix it. The whole experience gave me pause.
Too much mind.
Even though I agreed with his assessment, I had no idea how to not have too much mind. How to get back into alignment. I know what it means to get into alignment in a yoga pose, but I had no idea how to align my head, heart, and soul. There aren’t really instructions for that.
Stand there.
I finally got a clue from a friend. She wears a compass around her neck as a reminder of her internal compass. I always compliment it because I love the symbolism. As I was sharing my experience with her, I kept staring at it and I understood.
I have my own compass. Even if I forget, get lost, or get excited and want to say yes to all the things. I can always find my true north again. And so can you.
Deep breaths. Look around. Deep breaths. Stop. Deep breaths. Stand there.
Thanks, Mr. Rabbit.
