He said. She said. They said. You said. I said.
Words were said. Words meant to hurt. Words that we didn’t really mean. Words that we can’t take back.
When we were little, we would protect ourselves from bullies by chanting, “Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but Words will never hurt me.” We were lying to ourselves. Words do hurt.
Once a word escapes our lips, we can never take it back. When we are hurt by things other people say, it is difficult to move on. Those words echo over and over in our minds. But we can over-write that message with a message of our own.
By repeating positive affirmations to ourselves, we are changing the messages that replay in our heads. When I post yet another positive quote in my cubicle, I am adding another powerful message to my surroundings, allowing others to share it if they want to.
We don’t know how much time we will have on this earth. Spending hours rehashing the past and trying to force our viewpoint on others is wasted time. Every day is a gift and I choose to welcome each dawn with the joy of a childhood Christmas morning. I choose to breathe a thankful sigh before I lay my head down each night.
An old Indian legend tells us that two wolves live inside of each one of us. One wolf is good and the other is evil. The good wolf is love, peace, hope, acceptance, generosity, forgiveness and compassion. The evil wolf is anger, jealousy, greed, arrogance, lies, guilt and resentment.
Every day, the wolves battle each other. The thoughts we think feed the wolves. The choices we make are driven by the thoughts that we think. This means that we have control over which wolf survives the daily battle.
The wolf that survives is the wolf that you feed.
I believe that if we continuously feed one wolf instead of the other, the weaker one will get tired of losing every day and won’t put up much of a fight anymore. I have chosen the wolf that I am going to feed.
Every story has more then one side. None of us can actually tell you exactly what happened because our perceptions were each unique. We must accept that our own side of the story is not the side that is pure truth, even if we know that we remember every detail.
Time doesn’t heal every wound, but it does make the pain seem more bearable. When we can bear the pain, we can work through it.
I am reaching out to everyone that I love. If I am turned away, I will allow some time to pass before I reach out again. But I will reach out yet again, if I have to. The good wolf in me knows that it is possible to move on.
