Which Wolf Are You Feeding?
"Nothing ever really goes away until it has taught us what we need to learn." - Pema Chodron
What do you think we're supposed to learn from the events happening around us?
I think one of the things we're supposed to learn is to focus on what we can control instead of what we can't.
And what we can control is our mindset and how we show up.
We can choose to be reactive or proactive.
We can feed the right wolf. What do I mean by that?
A classic Native American parable tells the story of a Cherokee elder who was teaching his grandson about life. He said:
“A fight is going inside all of us. 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, lies, superiority, and ego.
The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, empathy, generosity, compassion, and faith.
The same fight is going on inside every person.”
The grandson thought about it and asked, “Which wolf will win?”
The grandfather said simply, “The one you feed.”
Which wolf are you feeding?
In these challenging times, it's easy to worry.
Please realize that "What if?" worries are the wolf of fear.
Instead of watching the news and feeding on everything that's wrong, choose instead to feed on the images and stories of humanity, generosity, service.
Choose to do something today to make a positive difference for others. Perhaps you could call someone who's going it alone, deliver a meal to people on the front lines, give a big tip to a food delivery driver, say thank you to a teacher or mentor?
Maybe you could get out for a walk, look up and around, and breathe in Mother Nature - who has not been cancelled and who is just waiting for us to notice her and appreciate her.
Why not dwell on what's right with the world and do what you can to create more of it?
Which wolf will you feed today?
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Sam Horn is the CEO of the Intrigue Agency. Her 3 TEDx talks and 9 books (including Tongue Fu!, POP!, IDEApreneur and SOMEDAY is Not a Day in the Week) have been featured in NY Times, on NPR, and presented to Intel, NASA, Cisco.
Bachelor of Commerce - BCom from Nizam College at Hyderabad Public School
2 年???? Great share
Founder, CEO at The Intrigue Agency, 3 TEDx talks, speaker, author of 10 books, LinkedIn Instructor. I help entrepreneurs, executives, audiences be more intriguing, connect their dots forward & turn their NOW into NEXT.
4 年Wondering why parables cause us to care? It's because we can picture stories - we can't picture statistics. This post shows why trying to get across the importance of an idea with facts and figures doesn't work ... and what does. https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/statistics-dont-cause-us-care-sam-horn/?published=t
Founder | Competitive Intelligence & Due Diligence | Risk Management Strategy
4 年I’ve always loved this parable and I’m a fan of the white wolf image you used. There is real power in the lessons that repeat themselves in our lives. A leadership coach taught me that the memories from our childhood that still bring up emotions today after many years are powerful repressed memories that lower your quality of life. How much more would these powerful parables point at stumbling blocks that often lower the quality of our personal lives as well as our society as a whole. Thanks for sharing Sam.
Speaking in my own voice/writing in my personal capacity
4 年excellent, as usual!
Founder, CEO at The Intrigue Agency, 3 TEDx talks, speaker, author of 10 books, LinkedIn Instructor. I help entrepreneurs, executives, audiences be more intriguing, connect their dots forward & turn their NOW into NEXT.
4 年You may enjoy this related post with additional ways to step up and take the lead in these times of coronavirus. https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/we-white-knight-choose-take-lead-times-crisis-sam-horn/?trackingId=rfagz8kjQsahX2NhHNz2AA%3D%3D