You have probably heard this Native American story.
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life.
“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil. He is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”
He continued, “The other is good. He is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
The wolf we are feeding, at least in the public arena of our lives, is the first one.
Anger. Envy. Greed. Arrogance. Lies. False pride. Superiority.
And we see the results.
We are at each other’s throats.
Lines are drawn. Us verses them.
Adults speak in ways we tell our children not to and rather than being reprimanded for what they say and how they say it, they are cheered on. Rather than turn our backs and walk away, we beg for more. The result is the social fabric of our country and our communities is being shredded. This feeding is not only happening on the national stage, but it is also happening on school boards and town boards and village streets.
It is easy to point our fingers and blame someone else.
The politicians.
The media.
The immigrants.
The working class.
But, nothing is going to change out there or over there until we look in the mirror and figure out how we add to the problem and decide we are only going to feed the other wolf.
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