An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “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 darkness and despair - he is self doubt, anger and sorrow - and the other is light and hope - he is joy, kindness and truth. The same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
I was at an event recently and the speaker told this story. I had heard it before and it serves as an important reminder of the power we have over our experiences and emotions.
Choosing to feed the first wolf means talking to yourself with kindness and forgiving yourself for getting things wrong or messing up - we are human, it's bound to happen.
It is also true that the second wolf needs his say too, all feelings are valid and need attending too, we need to ask, what are these feelings there to tell us. In times of anger, for example, that we can really rise up and make a change, in sadness we can be reminded of the joy of the opposite.
But where we choose to put our energy is what is important. In previous blog posts I have talked about starting a gratitude list, learning to love yourself and not waiting to be happy. These are the things we can do to feed the wolf of light and hope.
Lots of love,
Claire
P.S Do you know someone who has an internal battle going on? Please share this post – it might just be the message they need to read today.
