An old Cherokee was teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside of me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil. He is filled with envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other wolf is good. He is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."
"Both wolves are fighting inside you right now?" asked the puzzled child.
"Yes," responded the grandfather, "The wolves are fighting inside me now. They fought yesterday. They will fight again tomorrow."
The grandson throught about it for a while and then asked, "Which wolf will win?"
The grandfather wisely replied, "Neither. The fight will continue as long as I live. My only hope of finding peace is to provide generous amounts of food to the good wolf while withholding every possible morsel from the evil one."
"Can you do that?" asked the boy.
Grandfather - knowing only too well the shortcomings of himself and all humanity - simply replied, "I will try."
"What if another person feeds your evil wolf?" the child persisted.
"That happens sometimes," Grandfather said with a deep sigh, "and if it continues to occur over many years, I must - with the greatest of sorrow - place a safe distance between myself and such a person."
MelindaGerner@yahoo.com
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