Do the Next Right Thing (Exercise Topic)

Life can get crazy, and when it does, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and swallowed in anxiety or depression or in your own personal flavor of quicksand. There was a profound theme in the movie Frozen 2 that felt like it was worth sharing, so I did a quick vlog about it. Click below to watch:

After the troll gives the advice to “do the next right thing,” there comes a point in the movie where one of the ice princesses ends up all alone, having lost her sister and her snow friend, and she’s in that same dark pit of despair we can find ourselves in. She ends up working through that pain by singing about the troll’s advice. The lyrics are actually profound and worth sharing, so here’s a snippet of the song:

A tiny voice whispers in my mind
You are lost, hope is gone
But you must go on
And do the next right thing
Take a step, step again
I won’t look too far ahead
It’s too much for me to take
But break it down to this next breath, this next step
This next choice is one that I can make
So I’ll walk through this night
Stumbling blindly toward the light
And do the next right thing
And, with it done, what comes then?
When it’s clear that everything will never be the same again?
Then I’ll make the choice to hear that voice
And do the next right thing

I won’t overcomplicate the Next Steps, and I invite you to come back and repeat this exercise any time you feel stuck:

  1. That “tiny voice” mentioned in the lyrics doesn’t ignore the pain. It acknowledges, “You are lost, hope is gone.” What’s got you lost?
  2. And yet, that voice continues, “But you must go on and do the next right thing.” It doesn’t try to connect the pain and the reason to continue; it just says you must. Often times we can get stuck trying to get our feelings to line up with our direction, but when the pain is so overwhelming, it can be unhelpful. Sometimes “going on” is what ends up changing our feelings in the end. So don’t wait to “feel like it”, and don’t overthink it. Focus here: what’s the next right thing? Name it, and then take that step!

Unlike the ice princess singing in this song, we aren’t “stumbling blindly toward the light” alone. Post below what step you took, and let’s celebrate!

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@Casers

  1. What got me lost is not forgiving.
  2. I must forgive.
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