Day 355: May the Good Wolf Win

"An old Cherokee told his grandson, 'My son, there is a battle between two wolves inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, inferiority, lies and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy and truth.'

The boy thought about it and asked, 'Grandfather, which wolf wins?'

The old man quietly replied, 'The one you feed.'"

- Author unknown

This quote/proverb seems to perfectly sum up the hoped for outcome of my project, which is to basically have the Good wolf win. I realize that the Good wolf is up against a powerful enemy and she may not always be in the winning position but, if in the end the points stack up on her side, then I'll be happy. Putting it this way may seem to imply that I have no control over which wolf gets fed, but sometimes if feels that way. We can't always be strong. We have to be able to allow ourselves those times to be and feel weak, to struggle and feed the Evil wolf so that hopefully later we can come back strong and know the true joy of succeeding against the Evil wolf.

I have discovered on my journey that some days just stink and you have to let them fume. On those days you have to just go have a cup of tea and sit by yourself in a quiet corner to regroup. Maybe eat a comforting, gigantic chocolate brownie, or three, or just put on your pj's and go to bed early and wait for the new day to bring a fresh start.

I have learned that we all have crosses to bear in our lives. We all have different crosses but they are the same heaviness and we all walk a little shorter as we bear them on our shoulders through life. Sometimes miracles happen or our perspectives change and our crosses become blessings that we come to appreciate. I don't know that my cross will ever not feel like a sad burden but I hope and pray that it will lighten with time and I will truly see and appreciate all of the blessings in my life.

Life is like a roller coaster. There will always be ups and downs. What if, instead of seeing the downs and dips as something bad, we started to see them as exciting, like the dips on a roller coaster? How much more exciting would life be if we chose to see those times in our lives as exciting turns and dips instead of sad or difficult times. Life is full of possibilities and we should embrace each one with the child-like excitement of riding a roller coaster.

And when it comes to Evil wolves versus Good wolves, I know is sometimes difficult to avoid feeding the Evil wolf but hopefully we can all get to the point one day where he only gets small morsels and not full meals. Continue to feed the Good wolf as often as you can. It takes about the same amount of effort and it feels a thousand times better in the end.

If you haven't riden a roller coaster lately, visit your local theme park and remind yourself of the excitement of speeding downhill at eighty miles an hour. Or you can take a rain check and just get a laugh out of my photos below...

At Six Flags in Arrlington, Texas... I'm the one on the front screaming like a wild banshee and my husband, then boyfriend, is on the left, laughing his head off at me. He couldn't believe the guttural screaming coming out of me. I couldn't either to be honest. 

I can't believe I am sharing this photo... it has got to be one of the worst of me in human history. It was taken several months after my bangs "experiment" so this was after they had grown out some. I had been wearing a knitted cap because it was chilly but had to take it off for the roller coaster ride. You can see my husband peeking around me on the right.