Youth Health foundation

A young boy came to his Grandfather, filled with anger at another boy who had done him an injustice.

The old Grandfather said to his grandson, “Let me tell you a story. I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you down, and hate does not hurt your enemy. Hate is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times.”

“It is as if there are two wolves inside me; one wolf is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way. But the other wolf is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper.”

“He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger, because his anger will change nothing. Sometimes it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, because both of the wolves try to dominate my spirit.”

The boy looked intently into his Grandfather’s eyes and asked, “Which wolf will win, Grandfather?”

The Grandfather smiled and said,

“The one I feed.”

There are two life lessons that can be extracted from this story. After I applied them to my life, I noticed a significant change in the way I handled situations and reacted to unfortunate events. Here they are:

1. Take Self-Accountability.

Once you start taking accountability in your life, that’s when you’re going to see change. If you’re constantly blaming things on others, blaming your relationship issues on your partner, or blaming your behavior on other people, you’re never going to fix or find the solution. Even if something’s not your fault, just take accountability anyway. Focusing on other people’s actions, even if they’re the one “in the wrong”, will never promote your growth and maturation. It’s obviously easier said than done, but once you start adopting an external locus of control, you’ll notice a huge amount of stress just evaporates. No longer will you give someone else the responsibility of making you feel good. How you feel, how confident you are, whether you feed the good wolf, whether you feed the bad one–they’re all because of you. Make your happiness your responsibility. After all, the alternative is much scarier, isn’t it? You definitely don’t want to be happy only when others decide you can be.

1. Don’t wait to love.

Love as much as possible; love as unreservedly as possible. Don’t wait to “feed the good wolf”. Do it today. Love like you won’t be able to tomorrow. Because one day, you won’t. One day, you won’t be able to show love to your partner, pet, parents, or friends as they (or you) will be gone. And the scary part is, you won’t even know when that day is until it’s here. So, don’t wait to love. If you take advantage of every chance you get, when that loved one does finally pass, you can confidently say to yourself that you cherished every second with that person. You can confidently say to yourself that you have no regrets. And if, unfortunately, you are the one who happens to pass, your final moments can still be one of satisfaction and not bitter repentance. Remember–those who died last night had plans for today. Those who died this morning had plans for tonight. Don’t take life for granted, as in the blink of an eye, everything can change. So forgive often and love with a full heart.

Memento Mori-Remember You Will Die.

Story from: https://theacademy.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/two-wolves-cherokee-story.pdf