The Tenacity to Survive

To say that the past 11-12 months have been a challenge is being neglectful of the journey that I've been on.  The significance of this 20th day of November makes me present to how quickly the days fly by.  The girls have grown a lot over the past year, my head spins with the breakneck speed with which time has passed.

We have two lenses with which to look at what we encounter in life- fear and panic or optimism and opportunity.  I can honestly say that what has probably caused me much pain and agony is the second path.   I know no other way than to move forward.   As we undergoe each experience , we have two ways that we can react, with fear, anger and resentment or compassion , kindness and understanding.   In spite of the perceived wrongs I've encountered- I was reminded today of the choices available to me by the parable of the two wolves:

An old Cherokee is 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, and ego.” He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The 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 Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Here is to setting a banquet for the better wolf.

~Lou Sandoval is a business owner with over 17 years Fortune 100 experience. In 2002, he left a successful career to pursue his dream of business ownership. Lou believes in giving back to his community and has also been involved in the Boy Scouts of America and serves on a few non-profit and professional boards. Opinions expressed here are solely personal and not a representation of any of the organizations with which he may be affiliated.