Dog Eats Dog

Good morning everyone! I was searching for a quote that had to do with people taking advantage of others, something that I feel is currently happening to me, when I came across one that stopped that search in it's tracks. I thought to myself, this is exactly the type of situation this quote applies to and so I offer it up for today instead of where my mind had originally wanted to go.

Today's Quote: "A Native American Elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner: Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time. When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, "the one I feed the most." - George Bernard Shaw

As I said before, I was completely set on the topic for today because of the way I am being treated by certain people in my circle.  I wanted to get those feelings processed and out in the open so that they did not begin to eat away at my peace of mind today. However, when I read the quote above, I had one of those moments where I felt like I was standing at a crossroads and before me lay my two options. I could either stay on my current path, allowing the actions of another person to taint my day and in essence feed the mean and evil dog, or I could choose to feed the good dog, the one that tells me that it can only taint my day if I allow it to. I obviously chose the latter of the two. I think this quote was so profound to me because of the simplicity of the visualization. I can see it now:...two dogs, one foaming and aggressive, wild in its very nature and out of control while the other is standing tall and silent, a calming aura of self control shown in its eyes, in the very stance it takes. Feeding the former would make that dog all the stronger in its chaos and unpredictability. It would enable the dog to become more of a destructive force. However, if you were to starve that dog and instead put everything into feeding the "good" dog and making it stronger, because of its very nature nature that strength could then be harnessed and controlled,  focused on a more productive target. I don't know about you but I would rather be able to hold the reigns and control my inner dog then have a dangerous one pulling me along as it runs rampant, terrorizing anything and everything that crosses its path. I hope that this quote does for you what it has done for me in allowing you that moment of clarity when faced with a choice. It is a dog eat dog world out there, so make sure your companion is the one being fed the good stuff!

Namaste