Once upon a time there was a grandfather. He told his young grandson a story about the two wolfs who lived within him.
“You know,” grandfather said, “One of them is a very nice wolf. He is gentle, funny, always keeps calm, is intelligent, friendly and very joyful.”
“How is the other one?” the little boy asked.
“Oh, that one,” continued grandfather, “Is very mean, always grumpy, jealous, fearful and hot tempered. And you know what? These two wolfs are always fighting with each other.”
The grandson got very excited and asked, “Who wins?”
“Well,” grandfather says as he gently shakes his head from side to side seriously considering his response. “The one that I feed!”
For me, this story contains all the wisdom of this world. It seems so logical. It’s been many years since I first heard it, and I haven’t come across anyone who on hearing it, has not agreed. I think we all know that these two wolves live in each of us. Feeding one or the other is a choice each of us makes at any given moment; which wolf we starve and which one we keep alive.
The wisdom is simple. The carrying out on the other hand seems extremely difficult. At least I find this to be true and observe it in others as well. All around, it seems that the troublemaker-wolf gets all the food. In the headlines of the newspapers I read:
- Train derailed – one worker killed.
- Violent clashes at soccer game.
- Five members of the parliament have to leave – charged with deception.
- Five killed by bomb attack.
- 17 year old has wounded several people with axe.
- Representative of European Congress discusses abuse accusation in one’s ranks.
- Next financial crash is a matter of time.
You hear similar headlines on the TV-news. I ask myself, “Do I really want to know about all these events?” Some people say:
“You have to keep informed. Even if it’s bad news, it’s the facts. We can’t deny reality and just close our eyes.”
I ask myself, “Isn’t this feeding my fearful, grumpy, disgruntled wolf?”
Anyway, I don’t feel happy after having heard the news. What else could the journalists write about? What kind of headlines would feed the friendly and joyful wolf?
Maybe:
- Brave policeman saved five of the six workers on the train accident.
- Peaceful ending at soccer game.
- Thanks to everybody working together, the differences were worked out.
- Fall turns the leaves on the trees in spectacular beauty.
- The smiling face of a baby made the sick woman happy.
- An angry father did not slap his children today because his boss complimented him for his good work.
- The teenage boy brought the heavy garbage down for the old lady and made her day.
These positive events are also true incidents. They are facts as well. I wonder why they are not news worthy? They could inspire readers to be helpful, smile more, give compliments and show appreciation to friends and coworkers, see beauty in the world, work things out, see that there is goodness in the world. They would then begin to feed the happy wolf.
I have decided not to read negative headlines nor watch the news any longer (I no longer have a TV). Instead I feed my happy Wolf and look for beauty, happiness and encouragement. I support others and offer help and smiles. And, doing this, I can tell my happy wolf gets happier and more joyful with every little bite I offer.
One good source for food supply for happy wolfs:
www.ted.com (TED is a media organization that posts talks online for free distribution under the slogan “ideas worth spreading.”)