Two Wolves - An Important LessonsteemCreated with Sketch.

in #life7 years ago

wolves-58998_1280.jpg

There's a popular parable that goes like this:

A grandfather, teaching his grandson about life, tells him, "There's a fight raging within me. It's an epic battle between two wolves. One is evil - he is made up of anger, greed, regret, envy, arrogance, self-pity, inferiority, lies, superiority, ego, sadness and anxiety. The other wolf is good. He is love, hope, success, humility, kindness, benevolence, generosity, compassion, joy and confidence."

The grandson pondered this for a few moments, and then asked "Grandfather, which wolf will win the battle?"

Without hesitation, his grandfather replied, "The one you feed."

I love this lesson. How many times have you had an outside force confront you, and you had an internal debate on how to react? The message of this parable is clear - we ALL have the power to shift our words and actions to a more positive outcome. We have everything within us to feed the good wolf.

Here are three ways I've learned to feed the good wolf.

1. Assume the Best
When the person driving in the car in front of you cuts you off, assume the best. He's rushing his wife to the emergency room. His alarm didn't go off and he's trying to make his flight. I assume the best and move on from there.

2. Learn to Let It Go
When the bird poops on you, when your 4 year old daughter spills a glass of ice water on you in a restaurant, when your husband forgets your birthday. Let it go. Recognize when things are out of your control and let.it.go.

3. Shift Your Perspective
The statement, "I weigh too much and could look better in a bathing suit" may be true. But then, so is the statement "My body is strong and gave birth a beautiful child." Shift your perspective until you can find something to be grateful for.

This is a lesson I think of often and it's really helped to remind me to feed the good wolf.

How do you feed the good wolf? What parables have impacted your life for the better? If you found some value in this post, please upvote and resteem so I know to continue creating more posts like this one!

Thanks for reading!