Two Wolves

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An old Cherokee told his grandson, “My son, there is a battle between two wolves inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, inferiority, lies and ego. The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy, and truth.”

          The line between right and wrong can be thin and have a lot of gaps in it. If only a manual existed that could help us make decisions when our minds are clouded with feelings like anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, inferiority, lies, and ego. Then, making good decisions wouldn’t be such a challenge.

          The internal battle that we face between “good” and “evil” isn’t as cute as the idea that a little devil and angel stand on either shoulder, whispering suggestions of what you should do into your ears. Two more voices would just make things even more complicated, anyway.

          Sometimes our choices may inadvertently hurt a close friend. Other times our choices may have a huge positive impact on someone. Whatever path we chose, we become known for those choices which build upon each other and make up our character.

          Every choice, good or bad, adds up – the time you opened the door for the older couple walking into the restaurant, as well as the time you lied to your boss about why you were late on Monday morning. The tricky thing is remembering that each decision is based off the one before. Too many bad decisions, and suddenly you're in a downward spiral that's hard to correct.

          When you think about the multitude of decisions we make each day (many of which we don’t even think about), wouldn’t it be great to have a way to track them? There has to be a 'karma counter' app for that, right? Then, everyone could just reach into their pocket, pull out their phone, and see how they're doing for the day. If the "bads" had racked up a few tallies, then you could just work harder to bring the "goods" back up.

          Unfortunately, no such app exists but maybe taking an occasional break to think back on your week and making mental notes on how you’re doing could keep things on track.

The boy thought about it, and asked, “Grandfather, which wolf wins?”
The old man quietly replied, “The one you feed.”
-author unknown


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Originally Posted: Jul 6, 2012