Two Wolves

Two Wolves
by unknown

An elder Cherokee Native American was teaching his Grandchildren about life. He said to them, “A fight is going on inside me… it is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.

“One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

“The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.

“This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too.”

They thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

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

Sober Steve reminded me of this when he mentioned this in his blog. This is GREAT and reminds me of what I am doing with this 'The secret' thing. Its one of those things that is so basic that I wanted to put it on here so I could find it later. Its REALLY true. Thich Nhat Hanh says something very similar. He calls them 'seeds' not wolves. Meaning what you think about, nourishes different 'seeds' within us.

Right off to the gym! Thank GOD I no longer feel like a MOOSE. Hhahaa. I really need to groom. Tan, exfoliate, fancy facial etc etc and all that to feel half human. Such a relief! to be back on track a bit. Just the weight to do! It just feels really nice getting back to some sort of normality. I would like to try doing 1500cals in the gym instead of the usual 1000 odd to help shift the extra. Takes a bit longer, but its worth it.
Its GORGEOUS weather here today. Hope you have a GREAT Thursday!

Just Pedal

At first I saw God as my observer, my judge, keeping track of the things I did wrong, so as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when I die. He was out there sort of like a president. I recognized His picture when I saw it, but I really didn't know Him.

But later on, when I met God, it seemed as though life was rather like a bike ride, but it was a tandem bike, and I noticed that God was in the back, helping me pedal. I don't know when it was that He suggested that we change places, but life has not been the same since. When I had control, I knew the way. It was rather boring, but predictable... It was the shortest distance between two points.

But when He took the lead, He knew delightful long cuts, up mountains, and through rocky places at breakneck speeds. It was all I could do to hang on! Even though it looked like madness, He said, "Pedal." I worried and was anxious and asked, "Where are you taking me?" He laughed and didn't answer, and I started to learn to trust. I forgot my boring life and entered into the adventure. And when I'd say, "I'm scared," He'd lean back and touch my hand. He took me to people with gifts that I needed, gifts of healing, acceptance and joy. They gave me gifts to take on my journey...and we were off again. He said, "Give the gifts away; they're extra baggage, too much weight."

So I did, to the people we met, and I found that in giving I received, and still our burden was light. I did not trust Him, at first, in control of my life. I thought He'd wreck it; but He knows bike secrets, knows how to make it bend to take sharp corners, knows how to jump to clear high rocks, knows how to fly to shorten scary passages. And I am learning to shut up and pedal in the strangest places, and I'm beginning to enjoy the view and the cool breeze on my face with God as my delightful constant companion. And when I'm sure I just can't do anymore, He just smiles and says, "Pedal."


Shamelessly borrowed from Daaves blog.
Daave finds some FABULOUS stuff, I'll give you that.
I REALLY like this passage. I'm making it one of my 'favorites'. Its very VERY good.
I don't know about you but this is the closest description I have found of my relationship with my higher power. I would not describe it as 'cozy', because it asks me to step out of my comfort zone and old ideas. Spiritual growth really does feel like this. And the presence of love feels absolutely like this.
For those of you who have yet to experience a SANE, SUPPORTIVE relationship with another human being, this is a good example of what love feels like. It CHALLENGES us but at the same time, IS A COMFORT. But not necessarily in the way we expect it to be! The other may not agree with us, they may not sit back while we make excuses for not trying. They very often disagree, BUT IN A LOVING LIGHTHEARTED WAY.
Bad news for all the self-centered people out there who thought being loved meant they 'got their own way' all the time. Far from it! Real love is VERY CHALLENGING. There are no days off! And bullshitting doesn't work either!
This passage is a total blessing. It explains so much.

How to Awaken Love and Compassion

1. Loving Kindness: Unsealing the Spring

When we believe that we don't have enough love in us, there is a method for discovering and invoking it. Go back in your mind and recreate, almost visualize, a love that someone gave you that really moved you, perhaps in your childhood. Traditionally you are taught to think of your mother and her lifelong devotion to you, but if you find that problematic, you could think of your grandmother or grandfather, or anyone who had been deeply kind to you in your life. Remember a particular instance when they really showed you love, and you felt their love vividly.
Now let that feeling arise again in your heart, and infuse you with gratitude. As you do so, your love will go out naturally to that person who evoked it. You will remember then that even though you may not always feel that you have been loved enough, you were loved genuinely once. Knowing that now will make you feel again that you are, as that person made you feel then, worthy of love and really lovable.
Let your heart open now, and let love flow from it; then extend this love to all beings. Begin with those who are closest to you, then extend your love to friends and to acquaintances, then to neighbors, to strangers, then even to those whom you don't like or have difficulties with, even those whom you might consider as your "enemies," and finally to the whole universe. Let this love become more and more boundless. Equanimity is one of the four essential facets, with loving kindness, compassion, and joy, of what the teachings say form the entire aspiration of compassion. The all-inclusive, unbiased view of equanimity is really the starting point and the basis of the path of compassion.
You will find that this practice unseals a spring of love, and by that unsealing in you of your own loving kindness, you will find that it will inspire the birth of compassion. For as Maitreya said in one of the teachings he gave Asanga: "The water of compassion courses through the canal of loving kindness."

Tonglen Practice
from The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche

I read this ages ago in the book The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, and I found it on this webpage, along with some other methods for invoking compassion. This practice is called 'the Metta Bhavna" or Metta practice. Its a standard in Buddhist teaching but I LOVE the way Sogyal Rinpoche describes it in this passage.

Live Each Day to the Fullest

Live each day to the fullest. Get the most from each hour, each day, and each age of your life. Then you can look forward with confidence, and back without regrets.

Be yourself... but be your best self. Dare to be different and follow your own star.

Don't be afraid to be happy ..enjoy what is beautiful. Love with all your heart and soul. Believe that those you love, love you.

When you are faced with decision, make that decision as wisely as possible, then forget it. The moment of absolute certainty never arrives.

And above all, remember that God helps those who help themselves. Act as if everything depended on you And pray as if everything depended on God.

Author Unknown

My Favorite Old Timer's Sayings

THE NEWCOMER IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN THE ROOM
Take it on TRUST
Just do what makes you feel COMFORTABLE
It’s a cinch an inch, but it’s hard by the yard
We are SURE God wants us to be happy, joyous and free.
(in reference to statements from the Big Book) -Doesn't say, 'except for Mary, or John, or David'.
The more you put in, the more you get out
The people that matter don’t mind, and the people that mind, don’t matter
Those who do NOT RECOVER are people who cannot or will not COMPLETELY give themselves to THIS simple program. (not the Hazeltwig Programme)
EVERY time we are disturbed, no matter what the cause, there is something wrong with US
Our very lives, as ex-problem drinkers, depend upon our CONSTANT thought of others and how we may help meet their needs
Wear life like a loose garment, not like a hair shirt!
Just do your lousy best
Wise people learn from their own mistakes. Smart people learn from other people’s
What would be the LOVING thing to do?
Stick with the winners
(On choosing Sponsors) Have they got what you want?
Do they look as though they are enjoying their sobriety?
What are they like in the traffic?
Are they comfortable in their own skin?
The good is the enemy of the best
Your job now is to be at the place where you may be of MAXIMUM helpfulness to others
Keep on the firing line of life with these motives and God WILL, (not might) keep you unharmed
Its better to be in AA pretending to be an alcoholic, than to be 'out there', pretending you're not
It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice
(on advice about talking in meetings) Its says we ought to share in a 'GENERAL' way. Not a blow by blow account!
Feeling without action is Sentimentality. Action without feeling is an empty gesture

Not entirely sure about these ones..
If life was fair, you would be dead'
You can’t transmit something you haven’t got
Love people and use things, not love things and use people
Sick and tired of being sick and tired
Look but don't stare

YOU SNOOZE YOU LOSE

****This is probably one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE sayings****

PAY ATTENTION! PLEASE!
Most of recovery is about PAYING ATTENTION
And most of enlightenment is about being self aware, which comes from guess what?
Paying attention!!

The greatest gift you can give yourself
Is to pay attention
Every day
For the rest of your life

And trust me, you snooze, you REALLY do LOSE
You get it in the neck. BIG TIME.
You CANNOT afford to take your eye off the ball, in ANY area of your life.

Any mother who has had to take care of a toddler will know about this principle
Because small children can so easily do something that could kill them in 30 seconds or less.
That's why it's so mentally exhausting looking after small children.
Ideally we should be trying to pay attention to OUR lives as much as a mother is FORCED to pay attention to a toddler.

Call Me By My True Names

Please call me by my true names
Don't say that I will depart tomorrow--even today I am still arriving.

Look deeply: every second I am arriving to be a bud on a Spring branch, to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings, learning to sing in my new nest, to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower, to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.

I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry, to fear and to hope. The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death of all that is alive.

I am a mayfly metamorphosing on the surface of the river. And I am the bird that swoops down to swallow the mayfly.

I am a frog swimming happily in the clear water of a pond. And I am the grass-snake that silently feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones, my legs as thin as bamboo sticks. And I am the arms merchant, selling deadly weapons to Uganda.

I am the twelve-year-old girl, refugee on a small boat, who throws herself into the ocean after being raped by a sea pirate. And I am the pirate, my heart not yet capable of seeing and loving.

I am a member of the politburo, with plenty of power in my hands. And I am the man who has to pay his "debt of blood" to my people dying slowly in a forced-labor camp.

My joy is like Spring, so warm it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth. My pain is like a river of tears, so vast it fills the four oceans.

Please call me by my true names, so I can hear all my cries and laughter at once, so I can see that my joy and pain are one.

Please call me by my true names, so I can wake up and the door of my heart could be left open, the door of compassion.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann 1952

Great Spirit Prayer

"Oh, Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the wind,

Whose breath gives life to all the world.

Hear me; I need your strength and wisdom.

Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.

Make my hands respect the things you have made and my ears sharp to hear your voice

Make me wise so that I may understand the things you have taught my people.

Help me to remain calm and strong in the face of all that comes towards me.

Let me learn the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock.

Help me seek pure thoughts and act with the intention of helping others.

Help me find compassion without empathy overwhelming me.

I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother, but to fight my greatest enemy

Myself.

Make me always ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes.

So when life fades, as the fading sunset, my spirit may come to you without shame.

Do good anyway...

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered...
forgive them anyway

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives...
be kind anyway

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies...
succeed anyway

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you...
be honest and frank anyway

What you may spend years building, someone may destroy overnight...
build anyway

If you find serenity and happiness, people may be jealous...
be happy anyway

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow...
do good anyway

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough...
give the world the best you have anyway

You see, in the final analysis, it's all between you and God...
it was never between you and them anyway

Mother Teresa

The Invitation

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us to
be careful
be realistic
remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

Oriah Mountain dreamer

Autobiography in Five Chapters

1) I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk
I fall in.
I am lost . . . I am hopeless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

2) I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I’m in the same place.
But it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

3) I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk
I see it is there.
I still fall in . . . it's a habit
My eyes are open
I know where I am
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

4) I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk
I walk around it.

5) I walk down another street.