Tags
Bad Wolf, Building, Destroying, Good Wolf, Negative, Positive, Two Wolves
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The Story of Two Wolves
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.” – Author Unknown
We make decisions every day. We choose to do what we set out to do or we choose not to. Do you really have control of your life? Do you do the things you know you need to do, or do you talk about doing things and just never get around to them? Do you have any friends who are like this? The guy or gal who “talks” but never really does?
I used to be that guy. I’d talk about doing this or doing that but never got moving on anything. Whether it was diet, exercise, writing a book, reading, learning something new, or pursuing a life-long goal, I just talked. No one likes living with a liar—not even you. There is that one wholesome, truthful, perfect version of yourself (the good wolf) that accomplishes what it sets out to do. There is also an unwholesome version of yourself (the evil wolf) that talks about doing things but never gets around to doing them, preferring porno, video games, binge-watching television shows or movies, or reading meaningless information. The evil wolf loves a sloth. The evil wolf loves laziness and a lack of self-discipline. The evil wolf loves excuses, complacency, and procrastination. The evil wolf loves getting lied to.
Each time you tell yourself you’ll do something, you make a promise. The good wolf wants to get moving and do the task because you promised yourself you would. The evil wolf intervenes. If it is being fed more than the good wolf it will win, and your promise is broken. The evil wolf is easy to feed. Do nothing, pursue nothing, achieve nothing, take the easy path, blame everything around you for your troubles, never take responsibility, and lie to yourself.
The good wolf is harder to feed. The good wolf will only accept good food. It will only accept consistency, truth, responsibility, dedication, and discipline. If his food comes in any other form, it will snub its nose at the food bowl and walk away.
Feeding the Good Wolf
Make one promise to yourself. Maybe it’s to make your bed every day. Maybe it’s to take a walk every day. Maybe it’s about putting together a cleaning routine for your home. Maybe it’s rebuilding a relationship. Maybe it’s beginning the process of learning something that you’ve always wanted to learn.
Start small. Very small. Make a promise to do that one thing today. Begin feeding the good wolf. You’ll discover that over time, the good wolf’s voice will be louder. As it gets louder, the evil wolf’s voice will become softer. It will have less strength and less influence. You’ll know when this happens. You’ll feel more in control. You’ll feel happier and more accomplished, even by doing just one little thing and keeping your promise.
Once you have built one habit of keeping a small promise to yourself, the good wolf will get stronger. It will guide you to do more. Perhaps you do another small thing, make another small promise to yourself. This is all it takes. Small, little steps. Each step brings you a little more self-control, a little more self-discipline, a little more accomplishment.
Feed the good wolf and ignore the evil wolf. The evil wolf’s voice will become ever quieter and quieter, just like the good wolf’s voice has been for so long. The good wolf will hunger for more and more productive, self-building things. The good wolf’s voice will guide you to good books, good music, good activities, productive actions.
The evil wolf will always be there, just like the good wolf was. If you break a promise to yourself, you feed the evil wolf. The evil wolf will come back, and his voice will again become stronger. Always be vigilant, stay true to the promises you make to yourself. Develop healthy habits and keep building more. Over time you’ll find that you do not have time for bad habits. Like the evil wolf, they will fade away, once you have discovered how great it is to have the good wolf in your life. I wish you well on your journey.
Here’s what I’m up to this week:
Physical:
- Still working through Jim Stoppani’s Shortcut-to-Strength routine.
- Intermittent fasting (16-hour fast/8-hour feeding window)
- Low-Carb, high protein/fat diet Mon-Friday, carb loading on the weekend
Mental:
- Finished the HTML and CSS courses on Codecademy. I just started the JavaScript course yesterday—great fun!
- I’m reading the first book of the 2136 trilogy. I’ll give you a review on a thinking Thursday after I’ve finished it.
Social:
- It’s Thanksgiving this week and I look forward to a quiet one with my Mom and Dad
- I’m also coordinating with friends and colleagues in Phoenix for my upcoming trip there between the 28th of November and the 13th of December. I can’t wait to hang out with everybody.
Spiritual:
- I read my bible daily (The Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad)
- I meditate daily
- I do a spiritual exercise daily
Entertainment:
- I’m watching the series Fortitude on Amazon Prime. It is good so far.
- I’m playing a few game apps on the iPhone – Tune Blast and Candy Crush Friends
If you’re a consistent reader of my blog, you’ve probably figured out that I have a passion for helping people improve their lives. It is tough. So many people out there lost and suffering for no reason. I am continuing to refine my message so that people will get off their butts and do something to improve their lives.
I hope this blog helps people. If you have any suggestions or would like to suggest different types of content, please leave a comment.
Have a great week everybody!!
Until next time…
Dave