Some times daily events happen that bug me. Let's use, just as a hypothetical example: finding blueberry muffin mix in it's opened bag, spilled out onto the counter, being used as a sweet powder snack, with it's box missing... At this point I have two options: I can get mad, and then that mad makes me more mad at other things until I am just so mad that I might explode, or I can remain calm and take deep breaths, and say a prayer for peace, and count to twenty to relax my pulse. One route is easy and usually causes dissapointment in myself, and the other route requires much more effort but usually yields far superior results. Thinking things over today reminded me of one of my favorite poems:
One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.
He said, "My son, the battle is between 2 "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 wolf did you feed today?
I just hope it's as easy to choose the right wolf tomorrow afternoon as I'm preparing Fast Sunday dinner. Easily the crankiest task of the month. Today I think I fed the wrong one but only in the morning.
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