Two Wolves…and the meaning of life……..

Two Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside all people. He said, ‘My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all.’

‘One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.‘

The other is Good. ‘It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.‘

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: ‘Which wolf wins?’

The old Cherokee simply replied, ‘The one you feed.’

This is not my post but there is so much for you to read into it:

How to Have the Best Year of Your Life (without Setting a Single Goal)

Posted: 05 Jan 2012 08:15 AM PST

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Jeff Goins of Goins, Writer.

This new year, do something different: stop setting goals.

If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results, then making resolutions for another year is a sure-fire way to drive yourself crazy. I did it for years, and it got me nothing.

Resolutions are pipe dreams, and goals are a waste of time. They are designed to trick you into believing all you need to change your life is a plan.

But plans don’t work. Life is too chaotic and busy. For most of us, it’s impossible to stick to a list of goals for more than a few weeks, not to mention an entire year.

So how do you change your life? By controlling what you can: your daily habits.

The Pointlessness of Plans:

Most good things happen without a plan: friendships, falling in love, finding a job, and so on. If you want to make your new year count, you’ll need to be intentional — not by setting goals, but by making space in your life for what really matters.

This was how I was able to get into shape, launch a blog, train for a half-marathon, get a book deal, and keep my day job this year — while loving every minute of it.

Most productivity systems focus on beginning with the “end in mind” and setting goals to get there. Many are based on the assumption that in order to get what you want later, you’re have to give up what you want now. You work the plan, endure pain, and win.

But this is not the only path you can take.

I just finished one of the best years of my life, and most of it was completely unplanned. How did I do it? By creating new disciplines I actually liked doing. I wasn’t only fixated on the end results; I also enjoyed the process.

This is the secret to a healthy, productive life and to making an impact on the world. Create good, sustainable habits that you enjoy, and you’ll end up with a life you can be proud of.

Instead of Goals:

There is an alternative to setting goals that will bring you closer to the life you want. Focus on a few practices you can enjoy doing on a regular basis. The trick here is consistency. These four helped me:

• Get up early. When the world wakes up, distractions abound. If you are going to focus on creating a new life for yourself, you’ll need to find the time. The best way to do this is to work while others are sleeping. At first, I didn’t like waking up before the sun, but eventually my body adjusted and I began looking forward to the solitude.
• Over-commit. The adage “under-promise and over-deliver” is a farce. It only propagates the status quo. Real difference-makers push boundaries. They test, prod, and poke until something gives. You can do this, too, by saying “yes” to more things than you’re comfortable with. Learn to stretch yourself. You might be surprised by what you’re actually capable of. Your confidence will grow, too.
• Talk to strangers. Relationships are what make the world go round. This is true for your career, personal well-being, and inner life. When you meet new people, you make connections that can lead to all kinds of future breakthroughs. Even when it’s uncomfortable, reach out and introduce yourself to new people. The worst they can say is “no.” Fortunately, many won’t.
• Practice generosity. Give away your time, money, services, and ideas. When you do this, you will get a lot more than you give. People will learn to trust you, and if you really help them, they will tell others about you. This will build your reputation, and you will have more friends than you know what to do with. And as the saying goes, what goes around really does come around.

After a year of doing these things, I ended up with a life I couldn’t have imagined or planned for. And I had a blast doing it. So I’m going to do it all over again, without setting a single goal.

The best year of your life is within reach — if you are willing to give up on the craziness of plans and instead focus on creating new habits. The first step is to begin.

Read more from Jeff at his blog, Goins, Writer, or get his free eBook The Writer’s Manifesto.

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I Will Seek Wisdom,

One would think this ideal is a no-brainer but then one has to look at oneself. More than anything this is a lesson of action and acceptance. To me it is so obvious that “seeking wisdom”  is not what you can learn through reading books, audio tapes and lectures alone. I am not saying these are not good sources of extreme importance but they are only a small but important part of the picture. One would assume that personal experience is possibly the best means of becoming a wise individual. I have lots of  experience but I can’t say I am much wiser because of it. Wisdom brings balance, discernment and good judgment into a person’s life.

It is suggested that a person becomes who he associates with. My ability to sabotage myself in that my thinking tells me I am not as good as the group of people I long to associate with, that I am an outsider restricts my growth and capacity to learn. I need to stop comparing myself to others. My comfort zone is too comfortable! Inside I know that reaching out is the key to gaining acceptance, learning and acquiring a “council of wise men”. There is safety in council. This is a person’s mastermind group as Napoleon Hill states. Solomon says “find a wise man; a person or group who has accomplished what you wish for yourself, and listen closely to their words”.

I believe there is something wrong about how we think. There is nothing more important in our lives to seek and learn than, –”that we are not our thoughts”. The thoughts that rush through my mind are not mine.  I do not create them, they come from somewhere outside me. I don’t realize this so I take them to be my own thoughts.  I soon believe I am these thoughts. The problem is that I carry these thoughts around all the time believing that I am it!

The answer to this De Lima is to think in a new way. You need to watch your thoughts. Think about what you are thinking about so to speak. My thoughts are as close as my own breath, but I never take a close look at them. We all need to learn to stay awake and not get lost in our thinking otherwise the thoughts you have will run you ragged,  on auto pilot in a sense. They never stop!!  Just watch and listen to your thoughts.  It is also true as you watch your thoughts; you can focus on changing them, consciously, so that you can become what you are thinking about (like the “Law of Attraction”).

Through serving others one can achieve serenity of thought. The rewards of helping others bring a satisfaction to yourself that cannot be compared to anything. To give is to receive. I am not saying to get something I must give something.  Give from the heart;  put yourself in the other person’s shoes and come to know what they truly desire, need or want. If you cannot help, find someone who can. Help them indirectly in this way. Do not expect anything to come back to you. Giving and receiving is not a one to one measure.  Just believe that giving always comes back to you, sometimes without even recognizing it.

These ideas have enlightened me in the areas of the importance of others and the positive influence they have on you and you on them.  The power of your thoughts on thinking, and that helping others, giving of yourself expecting nothing in return really gives back more than one realizes. It builds a group of peers around you that contributes to the wisdom you gain. There is no greater power than love and compassion for your fellow man on this earth. To me this is a Wise Man’s Secret….

LET IT REALLY SINK IN…… THEN CHOOSE

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say.  When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply,  If I were any better, I would be twins!

He was a natural motivator.  If an employee was having a bad day,  John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.  Seeing this style really made me curious,  so one day I went up and asked him,  I don’t get it!  You can’t be a positive person all of the time.  How do you do it? He replied,  ‘Each morning I wake up and say to myself,  you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or…you can choose to be in a bad mood.  I choose to be in a good mood.  Each time something bad happens,  I can choose to be a victim or… I can choose to learn from it.  I choose to learn from it.  Every time someone comes to me complaining,  I can choose to accept their complaining or… I can point out the positive side of life.   I choose the positive side of life.

Yeah,  right,  it’s not that easy, I protested. Yes,  it is,  he said.  Life is all about choices.  When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice.  You choose how you react to situations.  You choose how people affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.  The bottom line:  It’s your choice how you live your life.  I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter,  I left the Tower Industry to start my own business.   We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later,  I heard that he was involved in a serious accident,  falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.  After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care,  he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.  I saw him about six months after the accident.  When I asked him how he was,  he replied,  If I were any better, I’d be twins… Want to see my scars? I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place. ‘The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,  he replied.  Then,  as I lay on the ground,  I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or… I could choose to die.  I choose to live.

Weren’t you scared?  Did you lose consciousness?  I asked.  He continued, …the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses,  I got really scared.  In their eyes, I read ‘he’s a dead man. I knew I needed to take action.  What did you do?  I asked.  Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,  said John.  She asked if I was allergic to anything, yes,  I replied.  The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply…I took a deep breath and yelled, “Gravity”

Over their laughter,  I told them, I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.  He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors,  but also because of  his amazing attitude…I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.  Attitude, after all, is everything.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,  for tomorrow will worry about itself.   Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34.

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

by Mike Virgil on MySpace Blogs