Cherokee story is how it is attributed, who told it, but I suspect the story’s origin is lost to time. But the Cherokee story is about a grandson who was wrestling with a couple of ideas. The grandson went and talked with his grandfather to try to get the situation resolved and the grandfather said, “What you’ve got is a battle between two wolves and they’re trying to decide which one is going to win out.” The grandson asked well, “Which one will win?”
It’s the One You Feed
The grandfather replies with a simple phrase, “It’s the one you feed.” This is a great idea and it illustrates the concept that you get what you focus on. But there’s a sub-story to this, that lies underneath the main story.
The grandson skipped over a generation. The generation of his father who is involved in the day-to-day operations of making the world work and went to the oldest source he could find.
The Cherokee Grandfather
That is a nice little piece of wisdom and here’s another piece of wisdom that is well exchanged. The grandfather wasn’t specific, He wasn’t involved in the age of the wolves, the pack, or gender. He was about the imminent choice that his grandson was going to make. He was about the direction that things would take. It wasn’t specific. He said this is what’s going to happen.
The grandson went to the most experienced source of wisdom he could find. In turn, the grandfather offered advice but wasn’t specific. He didn’t say, you need to do this, or you need to do that.
Fate Follows Focus
The grandfather said whatever you choose to do is where your focus is going to go. And what is going to be the direction of your life. A little bit of wisdom from the grandson knowing to go to the oldest font of wisdom he could find. And a little bit of wisdom from the grandfather allowing the grandchild to shape his world the way he sees fit.
Here are a few other Native American stories if you want more: Native American Stories
Another post you might enjoy: Stories We Tell
Twitter I Facebook I Instagram I YouTube I West Seattle Karate Academy I Martial Arts & Life Podcast I The Back Channel Podcast I Courses
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS