I've always found a great deal of wisdom and power in this story...maybe you will, as well....
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"The Wolves Within"
There was a Cherokee grandfather, whose young grandson often came in the evenings to sit at his knee and ask the many questions that children ask.
One day the grandson came to his grandfather with a look of anger and hurt on his face.
Grandfather said, "Come, sit, tell me what has happened today."
The child sat and leaned his chin on his Grandfather's knee. Looking up into the wrinkled face and the elder's kind dark eyes, the child's pain quickly turned to tears. Through his sobs, he began to tell his grandfather about his day at school...about the two bullies that cornered him on the playground who began calling him insulting names, pushing him around, saying all kinds of mean things about him and his family...even threatening to beat him up after school if they ever found him alone...
The Grandfather, with eyes that have seen so much, lifted his grandson's face so he could look deeply into the boy's eyes. Grandfather said, "let me tell you a story. I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do.
But hate wears you down and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times.
It is as if there are two wolves inside me, two very different wolves. One is good and does not intentionally try to harm others or judge them. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way.
The other wolf...ah, he is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing, making him only more bitter and angry.
Sometimes it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them fight to dominate my Spirit."
The boy, looked intently into his Grandfather's eyes, and asked "which one wins?"
The Grandfather, smiled and quietly said,
"The one I choose to feed."
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"The Wolves Within"There was a Cherokee grandfather, whose young grandson often came in the evenings to sit at his knee and ask the many questions that children ask.
One day the grandson came to his grandfather with a look of anger and hurt on his face.
Grandfather said, "Come, sit, tell me what has happened today."
The child sat and leaned his chin on his Grandfather's knee. Looking up into the wrinkled face and the elder's kind dark eyes, the child's pain quickly turned to tears. Through his sobs, he began to tell his grandfather about his day at school...about the two bullies that cornered him on the playground who began calling him insulting names, pushing him around, saying all kinds of mean things about him and his family...even threatening to beat him up after school if they ever found him alone...
The Grandfather, with eyes that have seen so much, lifted his grandson's face so he could look deeply into the boy's eyes. Grandfather said, "let me tell you a story. I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do.
But hate wears you down and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times.
It is as if there are two wolves inside me, two very different wolves. One is good and does not intentionally try to harm others or judge them. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way.
The other wolf...ah, he is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing, making him only more bitter and angry.
Sometimes it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them fight to dominate my Spirit."
The boy, looked intently into his Grandfather's eyes, and asked "which one wins?"
The Grandfather, smiled and quietly said,
"The one I choose to feed."
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