GOOD AND EVEL IN US
One Indian legend says that each of us has two fighting wolves inside. One of them is good, fair, happy, wise, kind…The other one is evil, furious, envious, nasty… Do you know which one will win the fight? The one you keep feeding.
The story got deep under my skin the very first time I read it. It is so clear, so eternal but yet ever so misunderstood. We all know how our anger, rage and other unpopular emotions get to us. The darkness spreads in its full beauty. Every single one of us has a bad wolf inside although our mind and ego are trying to convince us otherwise. They are fears, distrust, threats and injustice that bring the dark warrior to the surface. No matter how dark he is the warrior is still ours and we should get to know him well. Acceptance of the inner darkness is an archetypal story. It’s been following people since the beginning of humanity. But what to do with the bad wolf? Firstly, don’t feed him. Don’t loose your temper! Easy to say, ha! The more you learn about your dark side the weaker it becomes. When you get angry, point the light of your mind to the dark warrior and keep doing it. That way it will eventually disappear. To oversee yourself furious is hard but effective. It does require practice. I still have difficulties to keep calm when something outrage but I’m learning.
Every one of us has at least a little bit of darkness hidden inside. In the past I tended to idealize the wonderful people in my life. When I first met with their darkness I was extremely disappointed. The understanding of a wolf principle brought relieve to my hurt feelings. I also believe that understanding the bad wolf is more useful then understanding the good one. When we learn about their origin, motivation and energy, they cannot and will not beat us. How much we learn from being in the middle of a conflict with our beloved when the bad wolf sense the chance to shine? Do you understand a disagreement as something that burns bridges or on the contrary as a possibility that helps to build new ones towards the mutual understanding? We are able to listen and hear our partner in a dispute knowing that both opinions bring clarity into a problem. The ability to find consensus enriches us. It eased me a lot to accept conflicts as an opportunity for a life experience.
It is interesting that I comment mainly on the negative aspects. Nearly made me angry:)) Do I want to feed the bad wolf? It might be that I don’t want to domesticate the wild beast.:))
Lucie
The picture was drawn for a set of inspirational pictures made for the young and for the old called “The journey to self “
Tags: good and evel, Journey to Self, wolf