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 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.”Today my wolves were in full scale battle and I was on the losing end.
Working on something and getting nowhere. I let loose petty words that hurt too much. Slash and burn. Like a wildfire run amok.
Needed something done and pushing too hard. I let loose harsh words that shamed and blamed. A steam roller overturning everything. Winding us all up.
Waiting for something and frustrated over it not happening. I let loose a stream of scathing emails. Drowning reason in turbulence. Eroding our collaboration.
I lost. So much. Efforting. Willfully. Woefully. Diminished.
