I have kind of been living inside of my own personal Hell recently. (Searching for a personal Jesus is harder than it looks, I might add.) In any case, as in any life, there are ups and there are downs and you have to take the good with the bad. I have come to realize this to be one of the most important lessons I've ever learned. Regardless, in a recent email, I was fortunate to receive encouraging words and this tidbit of Native American wisdom. I am sharing it here:
One evening a Cherokee elder told his grandson about the battle that goes on inside of people. He said, “My son, the battle is between the two ‘wolves’ that live inside us all. One is Unhappiness. It is fear, worry, anger, jealousy, sorrow, self-pity, resentment, and inferiority. The other is Happiness. It is joy, love, hope, serenity, kindness, generosity, truth, and compassion.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
I don't know much about wolves, but I hope that in my life, I've managed to choose the correct wolf.
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Great post, thank you for reminding me of the choices we must make daily. Some days are harder than others, it's true. Keep reading those encouraging e-mails and know that others have been through their personal Hells and you'll make it too.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard this Cherokee wisdom, but I like it...your blog too.
~Bonnie
I cried after I read this post but it's totally what I needed to read at this point right now in my life. I wear my heart on my sleeve like many do and have said things I probably shouldn't have said to friends or coworkers or Facebooked or Tweeted, and so on.
ReplyDeleteIn fits of anger, self-doubt, self-pity and inferiority my emotions have run the gambit in all directions with the majority being total depression taking me down a steep embankment with no ledges to grab hold of to stop my decent.
I had been almost force feeding the negative aspects of my position and allowing my personal health fall victim to it's tyranny.
Now I must feed the other wolf. Nurture it. Attempt to put a strangle hold on the wolf that wants to win and bring forth the wolf that should win.
Better for me. Better for me.