Mike Loves Chicago!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

An old Native American parable...

The son of a Native American chieftain came to his father angry about something another boy in his tribe had done to him. "What is the matter son?" the chief had asked. "One of the other children was mean to me-what should I do to get revenge on him?" The chief had told his son to settle down and listen to what he had to say about the matter.

Inside of us there are two wolves. One of them is kind and gentle and slow to anger. The other one is a fierce and irritable beast, and everything around it becomes its prey. In some situations, we become like the "gentle wolf" and settle our disputes in a cool, calm and collected manner; however, there are other times that we let the "fierce beast" get the best of us, and handle our disputes against our neighbor in a vengeful, vindictive, and hateful manner- which is not good for the spirit.

"How do I prevent the fierce wolf from getting the best of me when dealing with the problems that I may have with others, and handle my disputes like the gentle wolf instead-father?" "Well son, its like this. We have a choice of which wolf controls us. I simply starve the one that I don't want taking over my actions." Satisfied with what he had heard, the son had took his father's wisdom to heart, was no longer angry, and eventually passed along what his father had said to him to his son just as this wisdom had been passed along to many generations before him.

A few more words...

Fast from fear, feast on faith.

Fast from despair, feed on hope.

Fast from depressing news, feed on prayer.

Fast from discontent, feast on gratitude.

Fast from anger and worry, feed on patience.

Fast from negative thinking, feed on love and forgiveness.

Fast from words that wound, feast on words that heal.

Fast from gravity, feast on joy and humor.

A Word vs. 1000 Words vs. Another 1000 Words.

I found this poem that my grandmother had given me on my 18th birthday which I think may be useful to some people that I know, and for the rest of the world- here goes...

                                                          A Word

                                         A careless word may kindle strife.
                                         A cruel word may wreck a life.
                                         A bitter word may hate instill.
                                         A brutal word may smite and kill.
                                         A gracious word may smooth the way.
                                         A joyous word may light the day.
                                         A timely word may lesson stress.
                                         A loving word may heal and bless...

                                                      (Peace)