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.”
Our thoughts hold a profound amount of energy and vibration. Have you ever noticed that when you are focused on positivity and joy, you feel energized? And on the other side of that coin, when you are focused on negativity and doubt, don’t you feel depleted? We have a choice every day to choose which wolf we will feed.
It is in our nature to have thoughts, some are positive and some are negative. This is as normal as the sun rising and setting every day! But, if we can feed the wolf of peace, joy, and kindness more often, we can create a shift in ourselves and the planet.
Start by honoring the fact that you are not your thoughts. They are simply a function of our amazing brains, and without them where would we be? The goal is to have power over our thoughts and not let them overpower our well being. We have the power to stop the negative loop in our heads and replace those thoughts with positive ones. If we consciously do that every day, it will become second nature.
A wonderful practice is something Dr.Richard Miller teaches, “working with opposites”. When a feeling or thought comes in, honor it for a moment as a messenger. Then find its opposite. For example, if a stressful thought comes into your mind, what would its opposite be? Perhaps you have an angry thought, invite it in as a messenger. Then consider the opposite of that thought which could be peace. Give it a try! For more information on working with opposites, check out the book “IRest” by Dr. Richard Miller PHD
Always remember, you can choose to see the clouds or you can choose to see the sun. Which will you choose?
We wish you happy thoughts!