There is a saying that goes a little something like this:

An Indian (Native American) Chief is relating a story to his Braves after watching a fight between two of them earlier.  The Braves wanted to know why they fight each other.

“In all of us there are two wolves.  One white one, One grey.  The white wolf is full of peace, harmony, happiness.  The grey is fear, anger, envy, jealousy.  They are in a battle to the death and the winner gets to claim your soul.”

One warrior, impatient with the old man’s stories says “Who will win?”

“The One I feed.” replies the Chief.

What I love about this story is the understanding that there is good and bad (not necessarily evil) in all of us.  We become good or bad depending on our actions, our thoughts, our behaviour.  It also teaches us that we can change.  If we step back and realise our actions have consequences then we might not make such rash decisions.

Stories have been helping us understand ourselves for thousands of years.  Like the hero figure of old, they can be used to inspire others to do better.  But that can only happen if they feed the white wolf.

When you want to lash out because you’ve been hurt remember, this is the grey wolf talking.  He’s hungry and wants to feed off your negativity.  Feed the white wolf instead.