One of the great rules in life is the law of atrophy. What I do not use, I lose. Muscles I do not use nor exercise would soon atrophy, shrivel and die. Neurons that are not used die faster than those that are active. Money not used loses its value due to inflations; invested or used, it grows.
There is a corollary principle to this rule, the law of growth. What I nourish will flourish. I came across this story that poignantly illustrate this principle:
An old Cherokee was 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.”
As I struggle and work to change my heart of stone into a heart of flesh, I am learning that the more I nourish feelings of anger, resentment and negativism, the longer and the stronger they stay with me. I notice too that even when the source and the cause of these feelings have passed away or have been gone, the feelings linger on and continue to fester. And I can literally feel my spirits being poisoned and becoming even more bitter and angrier. If I tame and starve the feelings, they eventually die and go away.
I must let go and stop feeding the evil wolf in me and let the good one become more alive, flourish and grow.