Monday, March 30, 2009

Which wolf?

I went to the library tonight for Mikaela's tutoring session and picked up two books for myself. One is Dr. Phil's latest "Real Life" and the other is called "Never give in, Never give up" by Carlana Stone Lawson. I saw the "Never Give In" book just sitting there on the shelf and it said on the cover "a gripping and inspiring story about how to soar through life's adversities." I decided I could use an inspiring story, not to mention, one that would help me put my life back into perspective. It's about a girl who was paralyzed at age seventeen and was never able to walk again, but teaches about her lessons that she has learned along the way. I have wanted to purchase the Real Life book for some time now and saw it sitting on the shelf too so I grabbed them both. There is a part in the Never Give In book where she talks about choosing to obsess on the negative and in so doing, miss out on the little things that bring us joy OR choosing to exploit the joy. It is often the simple things that give our life meaning. She also gives exercises and one of those was to record every couple of days, two or three simple things that you are grateful for. So, tonight I am grateful for my children, my family, and my friends. Those aren't simple things, but it's a grateful place to start.

Then, I heard this story in a talk and I saw it on Lisa Bearnsen's blog and thought I would post it on my blog as a reminder to myself.

Two Wolves


One evening an elderly Cherokee Indian told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.
He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all.
One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.
The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Which of your wolves do you want to win? I definitely need to stop feeding the Evil wolf inside of me. Thanks to everyone for your blogging hugs! I appreciate it.

4 comments:

Eric said...

I have found myself struggling with wolves through the years as well. I used to have a Minnesota Timberwolves hat when I was younger, but then I went to Riverton High and was a Silverwolf. I probably have to side with the timberwolf because the silverwolf had purple, black, silver, and teal as his official colors. He was just a red and yellow shy of a rainbow.

Larissa said...

Ah, Spew...I can always count on you!

I think I was a UVCC timberwolf or some kinda wolf too. Yep...it's not a typo...I meant UVCC. I'm also old!

Keli said...

The good wolf, the good wolf!

There is also a great book I've been reading, and plan to blog about, called The Grieving, um, something. I can't remember, and it's not in front of me, and I'm not running my happy butt all the way upstairs for it. Sorry. But the authors last name is Beattie. I know that for sure.

It's good. It's about grief of all kinds. Death, divorce, financial, dreams, spiritual, and there are so many stories that we've all heard. The author has great insight since she has struggled through losing a child, a divorce, and addiction herself. There are so many one liners in there that I could apply to my life. I plan on doing a post just on those I find inspiring. But check it out, it really is uplifting.

Hang in there.

Man, we need to live by eachother. I think we could get a lot accomplished.

Keli said...

The Grief Club. There you go. Get it, it's great.