There is a story that an old Cherokee Man told his grandson about a battle between two wolves.
“A fight is going on inside of every man,”
he said.. “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.”
He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. 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.”
This is a powerful story that beautifully illustrates the battle within us all. We are all capable of good: 100% solid gold goodness. We all are also capable of causing massive destruction. The small choices we make every day feed either the good or the evil and determine our ultimate life trajectory and I would argue that it begins with our words.
Our words have the power to spread joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. When I think of these words, they bring a breath of fresh air to my soul. I think of people like Mother Theresa, who used her words to bring light and life to the World. As a result, she’ll be remembered throughout history as the Mother of Peace. Mother Theresa was
a game-changer.
She fed the good wolf. She used her voice to overpower the evil. I’m 100% certain that there were countless opportunities that Mother Theresa had to choose the other path. I even bet that if she had chosen to feed the evil wolf, she may have had some justification in doing so at times. But she chose to feed to feed the good – to SPEAK the good.
Then we have the timeless winner Hitler, who chose over and over again to feed the evil wolf. As a result, he changed history forever. He will be remembered throughout history, just like Mother Theresa will, only when people speak of Hitler, they’ll only speak of anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego that he spread and the mass destruction that he caused as a result of his choice to feed the evil.
Those are two extreme examples, but we have the exact same opportunities to choose the things that they both chose, don’t we? Maybe our feeding choice won’t change history, or effect nations in the same way that Mother Theresa and Hitler did, but what if it did?
What if the choices you make now determine the course of your family for generations to come? I have news: it just might.
You are in control of you, AND you have the power to change the course of history for your family. Every single choice that you make reverberates more than you realize. Let’s take your kids for instance: they are watching you. Every moment of every day, they are watching and understanding their world according to what you are teaching them (consciously or unconsciously). When you feed the evil wolf, don’t think for one moment that they don’t see that. They will,
And they will learn from you. No pressure.
Here is the good news: when you consciously CHOOSE to feed the good wolf… no matter how difficult it is… you’re teaching your children how to choose the good. You’re forming their understanding of the World. You only get 18 years with them and then they are off on their own for 60-80 years, and yet most of what they will understand about the world will come from your teaching. I don’t know about you, but that shakes me to my core.
I want to choose to feed the good wolf always, no matter what. I’m undoubtedly going to mess up, but when I do, I’m going to choose to pick myself up and get back to intentionally feeding the good wolf. I hope you’ll join me! Until next time Shore Locals, I am sending you peace love and good vibes from my beach chair to Your’s