Depends which one i feed

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed. The Wolf You Feed collection is a reflection on the personal and outer battles that people face.

The battle between good and evil, between the path we choose and the one that is chosen for us. In our busy day of living this life, we often forget that the most basic elements of our lives are based on the choices that we make and how these choices have an impact on our families, communities and society.

Many of the themes in this body of work relate to human nature and interaction. The problems of this world are a manifestation of the deterioration of our societies and the obsession of our own mortality. The first part of the story is telling us that we can never get rid of the first wolf, the first wolf will always be there. The fight between two wolves is eternal. Both wolves will always be there. This applies to our emotions, behaviors, habits, and every other aspect of our life.

I used to fall into the trap of trying hard to banish the negative side of myself. The truth is that none of us is living in pure bliss. What we can do is to act in spite of those negative feelings or hard times. We can take those fears, those worries, those doubts and move forward anyway.

How will you feel when you get nothing done all the time? And the evil wolf will get stronger day by day.

Instead of doubting yourself and doing nothing, you can try to learn new things and expand yourself at a slower pace. Instead of focusing on the fears within, start with ONE thing you should and could do that is right in front of you. These things take so much energy, effort, momentum, and guts. Feeding the second wolf is how we end up feeling a sense of accomplishment and success at the end of the day.

In organizations we can feed our victimization, our apathy, and our boredom. We can feed our cynicism about others and use it as an excuse to not care about the mission or purpose.

If we pay attention to the self-interest, we use that lens to see motivations of managers and leaders. We will dismiss what they say because there is always a motivation that serves themselves first over others, including the organization, the customers, employees, and the environment.

But we can also choose to pay attention to other possibilities. That the people we work with are working together for a higher purpose. That they will help each other to become better. That they are motivated by purpose and making the world better. If we use this as a lens, we approach others with a cooperative intention. We see the good in others instead of ego, anger, arrogance, resentment, etc.

I am struck by the growing gap between what I experience in my consulting work and the way our society is portrayed by the news. Our political reporting would suggest that no one works for the country any more, that they are all focused on themselves or their party.

The news is feeding this narrative and that action makes the narrative stronger.