Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Feeding the Good Wolf

I heard a wonderful story recently about dealing with the emotions of sadness, loss of control and wondering how things could have been different if only. . .


Self defeating thoughts go around and around my mind. And then they translate into other areas of my life, where I just can’t stop worrying. Worrying about whether I’ll ever get pregnant again. Worrying about if something happens to Mr. Chop or my parents. Worrying about whether I will ever physically feel well again, which I’m sure doesn’t help my health situation at all. And I am learning that worrying about something does not prevent it from happening.

So sometimes you need a good allegory to help you sort things out.


An old Cherokee Indian was speaking to his grandson:

"A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil--he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good -- he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too."

The grandson thought about it for a long minute, and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."


I’m going to work on feeding my good wolf. Just consider me a work in progress.

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