I Choose Love. How about you?

There is a tale of an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. 

He said, “My son, there is a battle between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil - It is anger, envy, jealousy, greed, and arrogance. The other is Good - It is peace, love, hope, humility, compassion, and faith.”


The grandson thought about this for a while and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?”


To which the old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

I know I am not the first person to quote this story that periodically makes its way around the internet. However it came to my mind as I viewed a video someone shared on my alter ego's FB page.  It reminded me of one of my core beliefs that we all make choices every day, not necessarily between good and evil, but in terms of the two great urges that tug at us all:  love and fear.  Freud described them as eros and thanatos--love and death, though I think the latter is better interpreted as fear.

I believe these forces are as real and as potent as gravity or torque, though they exist in the emotional realm rather than a physical one.  We all can feel love for a person or place or thing, but the force love goes beyond our personal emotions.  It can be described as altruism, brotherly love, service to the higher good or even heroism.  Although we often think of these attributes as lofty we each have the capacity to live them every day.

Or not.  You can live your life with a what's in it for me attitude, or worry that anything you share with others (particularly your fellow writers) is something you've lost.  You can operate under a sense of lack, as in every time you hear someone has made a great deal or written a good book or garnered an award, it's an opportunity stolen from you.  It's up to you. 

But I've been there, done that and given it up for Lent and thereafter.  Such fear-driven thinking brought me nothing, and when I look back on all the  mistakes I've made in life or in my writing career, I realize that every last one of them came from a place of fear and distrust of others and myself.  There really is enough success to go around if you aren't getting in the way of it.

By the way, here's the video that started me thinking.  Hope you enjoy it!