No room! No room! They cried out when they saw Alice coming. 'There's plenty of room!' said Alice indignantly, and she sat down in a large arm chair at one end of the table.

How well I know how she felt, but could I be wrong?

Clearly those around in the table acted as though they did not need or want her presence. And how did that make her feel? Not good, but was their reaction 'reactive'? As in, had no one before ever made that contact with them - that they felt threatened? Or, not withstanding their negativity, was she cheeky to go where she was not invited?

Whatever was going on here, what you and I have to think about is how we react to the world around us:

Is the world so against us that we come out in anger... that someone has threatened us?

Are we not sure anyone is talking to us because we don't think we exist and so don't respond to anything or anyone?

Carefully conscious that we may not be welcome?

Or

Is everyone our friend so we smile at them without knowing their value?

Extreme - ok - but what is in our heads is how we react. The message for me is that if I am strong in my head, I can be strong in my actions/reactions. I might feel weak - but why? Someone has to be brave or we are always at odds! When I am really brave I don't get knocked back many times!

It's not all about us as individuals! Wow. Big thinking! Any interaction, any perception involves two people (minimum) and is a two way street, in what we perceive and what the other person also perceives.

Alice saw seats and was not invited to join but chose to do so, to her chagrin in the end. Maybe she should not have done so... But it was important to the storyteller that she did and the purpose of the story was to draw attention to some of the oddities of life, many and various as they are. And irrelevant as they ultimately are too. After all this is just a kiddie bedtime story...

My message is not kiddie time, it's for all of us struggling to live a proper life, not one dictated by outside influences but led by our hearts and our heads.

We have a habit of making more of things that hit us than we should. I know I need to lighten up, stay in the moment, be grateful for what I am/have, serve others and generally "get over myself" and if I came across such a table. What would I do or you?

Alice

A Moodscope member.