Every day a number of tasks is put out in front of us that we just have to figure out. Sometimes we grow stronger, other times we become broken down. Maybe we take it head on with all strength and positivity. Or maybe we feel weak and as if there is nothing we can do and just give up. What do you do?
Every day we all go through our own little personal outer battles. By outer battles I mean the ones that you can see with the naked eye, whether its physical, mental or emotional. No matter what happens on the outside we all share one common battle…the one on the inside. Some of our battles are harder than others, but we will all always have this war within us constantly going back and forth between the positives and the negatives of life.
So now I ask you, have you ever heard the folktale of the Cherokee grandfather who told of a story about our inner battles to his grandson? Well, here's how it goes. An old Cherokee man sits his grandson down and says to him, "My son, there is a battle between two wolves inside all of us. 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 boy thought about it and asked, "Grandfather, which wolf wins?" The old man then quietly replied, "The one you feed."
Believe it or not, I was first introduced to this story through a YouTube video that I literally stumbled upon one night, and I wholeheartedly believe that I was meant to hear that when I did.
At the time I was struggling with some personal demons that I didn't know what to do with and for some reason that struck a major cord with me. It was like suddenly I had the answers that I had been looking for all this time. I was so enthralled by this story that I did all the research I could and then ran to tell anyone and everyone that would sit still long enough. Soon thereafter I quite literally became obsessed with it. So much so I told my parents that I wanted that to get that saying tattooed as my second tattoo (yes second. I'm working on getting third and fourth as well) for my 17th birthday. And guess what, that's exactly what I did.
I'm not quite sure why exactly that hit so close to home with me, or why I became so quickly obsessed with it but what I do know is that it changed my entire view on a lot of things in my life both big and little. From that day forward whenever I am going through something tough or find myself falling into pessimistic thoughts due to the stresses of life, I repeat that saying in my head and it reminds me to think on the bright side and not give into the bad that lives inside me. That I am bigger than whatever I am fighting and not to give up or give in.
By sharing this I hope that it will help others as much as it has helped me in this past year and a half. Always remember that you are stronger than what tries to bring you down and bigger than those who try to belittle you. So ask yourself…which one do you want to feed?
