Good Wolf, Bad Wolf

The Showdown WithinFairy tales usually pit good against evil, with goodness prevailing in the end. We tend to side with the good guys, but don’t we often, to some extent, resonate with the perpetual villain? Think about your day, and how many times you might have hurt another person or ignored someone in need. Though unintentional, the “bad guy” within us—the force that, for whatever reason, goes against our conscience—seems to surface more often than we’d like. Why is it so difficult to let goodness win?It all boils down to the definition of good and evil. On February 19, 1973, Father Moon explained:“Ultimately, the basis of the definition of good and evil lies in yourself. Everything starts from you as an individual. If you are doing things for the sake of other people, you are defined as good…If you are doing things just for your own sake, you are not good. However beautiful a song you may sing for the people, if you are doing that out of greed or jealousy, you are not good. If you do things out of arrogance or out of pride in yourself, you are not quite doing things right. Arrogant people have nothing to do with goodness.”Which Will It Be?Each moment, we have a choice. Malicious actions have their opposites: speaking badly behind someone’s back can turn into speaking positively. Arrogance can transform into humility. However, that’s not to mean we need to reference our hurtful habits in order to know good—it means that we can actively let goodness grow and let evil starve.According to a Cherokee legend, within each person there’s a raging battle between two wolves—one evil, one good. Throughout our lives, we feed both wolves with our thoughts and actions. The wolf that grows biggest, has most influence and ultimately defines us, is the one we’ve fed most.Changing Our Thought PatternsOur spirit can be a fierce and righteous wolf if we make it so. By acting on what our conscience tells us and investing in good things, like apologizing when wrong, volunteering our time, reaching out to a loner or donating $1 to Nepal, we can grow in us a strong and undefeatable good wolf!Sometimes, though, our habits limit us from doing the right thing. Research shows that having toxic thoughts can be compulsive. Isn’t it often our quick-fix to resort to negative acts or thoughts—like exploding at a colleague’s comment, snapping at our family member or bad-mouthing our boss? It’s often automatic and makes us feel better in the short term. Looking back, though? Few of us would say we feel good about those things.Change starts within our own minds and hearts. It begins in the rewiring of our brains to the point where we can act and think on goodness by default.One simple way we can change our thoughts and actions is to create positive affirmations: filling our minds with positive influences, whether it’s scripture, good news or proactive ideas.Put a Positive Spin on ItIn the emerging field of positive psychology, the focus is not on diagnosing and eradicating one’s diseases but on identifying and using one’s strengths to bring health and happiness. Can’t we then approach life from a positive perspective—be it in our minds, emotions, work, home or relationships?For example, if someone is negative or disruptive at work, we can identify our strengths—maybe compassion, directness, cooking, speaking—and use them to support and uplift the person in question. If speaking is your talent, take said colleague aside at lunch and explain the situation. If it’s cooking, make something for them that might simply brighten their day. As Father Moon testified, “When we say that someone is ‘good’, then without exception, we mean that person is doing something good for the sake of other people,” (Feb. 19, 1973).If we believe we are naturally good, and act on that belief, we can grow our good wolf and win that inner battle! What ways can you feed your good wolf today? It’s getting hungry…

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