Cherokee WIsdom: The Struggle Between The Two Wolves Within

There is something wonderful about Native American Indian wisdom. I came across this one about the inner struggle that goes on within each and every one of us. There are different variations but the one I saw  goes like this:

An old Cherokee chief was 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, "Whichever one you feed."

We don't have a choice about  the negative things that enter our minds, but we definitely do have a choice how long that negativity sits there and festers. It's a question of not allowing the "evil wolf" to take control of our lives, by not giving whatever negative emotion we might be harboring any energy, or 'feeding' it, as the Cherokee legend goes. We do this by replacing the negative with positive.  You can do this through positive self-talk or affirmations, or through EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) a great method for dealing with everything from releasing negative emotions to overcoming pain.

It's not an easy struggle, but well worth the effort.

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Cherokee Indian Youths' Rite of Passage: Or God Watches Over Us No Matter What

Our email inboxes get inundated with mostly garbage these days, but every once in a while you receive a gem like the following alleged American Indian legend.  The message, while using what is claimed to be a Cherokee Rite of Passage as an example,  is actually all about having faith in God.  Whether it is an actual Rite of Passage or not is debatable (according to various Internet searches), but the message is worth embracing, true or not.  I have posted a YouTube version below. The wording is a little different, but the message is the same: even though we cannot see GOD, HE is still there protecting us during turbulent and fear-inducing times.

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youths' Rite of Passage?


His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN.


He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own.


The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him . Maybe even some human might do him harm.


The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man!


Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold.


It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him.


He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.


We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, God is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us.

When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him.

Moral of the story:

Just because you can't see God, doesn't mean He is not there. "For we walk by faith, not by sight."