An old Cherokee chief 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, self-doubt, and ego.
“The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.
“This 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 chief simply replied, “The one you feed.”
—————–
Just told this story to Owen, our 5 year old, who is telling us that “venom” (as in the Spider-man villian) is “inside him” and makes him do bad things etc. I don’t think he’s actually having split personality issues but rather trying to describe his conscience vs impulse when dealing with anger etc. So this story I heard a while ago came to mind. Not sure if he ‘got’ it but it’s started the discussion on how we act, what we say and how we live our lives says whether we’re a ‘hero’ or a ‘villain’. Also the concept that EVERYONE has this ‘battle’ within them seemed to reach him a little.
…and the beat goes on
lol. I hit the wrong button trying to search for you in my gmail, but hit the web button. This is neat. Tessalie just turned six, but has had a similar issue. Maddy, her imaginary friend (she’s had since she was three) has other imaginary friends herself – and they make her do bad things. This is a great story. I bet my family will like this too 🙂