Don't Be A Rabbit

Yesterday I was faced with having a difficult conversation.  So I turned to outside sources for some insight.  For this one, I turned to my Spirit Animal Oracle cards.  I do not live or die by what comes up, but often I am left feeling, "How does it know?"  Today, I drew the Rabbit card.  Here is what it said:

"The Rabbit loves to remind his friends that someday the Eagle will swoop down and eat him.  He talks and talks and talks about it, so loudly in fact, that one day the Eagle hears and thanks him for the great idea.  Rabbit energy is alive when we are scared (most often about the future) and we become our own worst enemy.  We spin up a dust cloud of fear and then complain to others that we are lost.  Notice your thoughts and words, oh Rabbit….they shape your destiny."

I had indeed become my own worst enemy on this one, wasting energy on possible outcomes.  If I just gathered my courage and said what was needed, I could stop fantasizing about what MIGHT happen.   In truth,  my fear of how it would turn out was IN MY HEAD.  There was no way to know the outcome until I actually spoke up. 

In so many ways, this was my thinking when I was still trapped in addiction. Living in fear that someone would actually see who I REALLY was and take me down.  Everyone was an Eagle.  I whined to myself and others about my life, but took no ownership of it.  I lived in fear of what the future held but didn't stop to listen to myself.  My thoughts and words told nothing but doom and gloom, leaving no space for any other option than a complete catastrophe. 

When Rabbit's are in balance, they are sensitive, problem solvers and good listeners.  When they are out of balance, they over-explain and talk too fast.  How do you bring a Rabbit back into balance?  A day of silence.  In other words, be here now.  Sit with your thoughts.  Ask if they are really true.  Listen to the words you use to describe yourself and your situation.  Make a list of what it would take to solve what you are so upset about. Cross off everything that you have no control over.  In general, that is about 95% of the list. 

Remind yourself that rather than being your own worst enemy, you can CHOOSE to see the situation differently.  What can I learn from this?  Why am I so upset?  What else do I need to look at?  When all is said and done, the only thing we have control over on any given day are our bodies (Did I eat well?  Did I move? Did I not drink?) and our emotions.  So often it seems like the rest of the world can "make us feel bad".  But it is up to us to change our perception and our words.  WE shape our reality.  WE make ourselves feel bad by giving away our energy to outcomes we cannot predict.

 Does insight make conversations easier?  No.  Does it guarantee that the outcome will not be as imagined?  No.  But if you address what you are most afraid of head on, at least you will get your answer sooner and then you can spend your energy on the next right step.  No longer wasting your energy on "what if".