A grandfather is talking with his grandson and he says, "There are two wolves inside of us which are always at war with each other.
One of them is a good wolf, which represents things like kindness, bravery, and love. The other is a bad wolf, which represents things like greed, hatred, and fear."
The grandson stops and thinks about it for a second then he looks up at his grandfather and says, “Grandfather, which one wins?”
The grandfather quietly replies, “The one you feed.”
Recently I was giving a talk to a group of people in southern Florida about letting go of old limiting beliefs and stories so that you can create the life you truly desire.
The talk pointed to shifting the inner state or inner environment of ourselves; what we call our context, so that the content, or results, of our lives show up. And sometimes, in order for that to happen you have to put yourself out there in a big way. A way that is usually uncomfortable for most.
When I opened it up to the audience this young girl asked a poignant and almost sobering question, “This all sounds great,” she said. “But what about the fear?”
“What about the fear?” I repeated to myself.
She then asked a follow up question that was peppered with concern, she simply asked, “Does it ever go away?”
That’s when it hit me. I sometimes get so swept up in speaking; coaching and inspiring people to live their 10 lives that I forget that fear can be so paralyzing and real.
I answered her as honestly as I could. “I don’t know”, I said. And I don’t. I don’t know if our fear ever truly “goes away.”
But what I do know, and what I see every day, is that the greater our commitment is to our own love, happiness, joy and success, the less relevant our fear seems to be.
Fear is natural. All humans have fear.
It reminds us of where we have placed our limits and offers us a choice to stay there or break through them. We all have fear, it’s when fear has us that we are placed at its limits and lose out on our lives.
I have fear every time I speak in front of groups, hoping that they will receive the message of freedom, abundance and joy that I believe is intrinsically theirs. But, my commitment to them is greater than my fear of messing up.
In fact, that is truly the secret formula. When your commitment and desire to make a difference in people’s lives is greater than your fear of failure, then you will succeed.
I don’t know if fear ever goes away. I am hoping that it won’t. But I already have made my choice on which wolf I choose to feed.
Now it’s your turn. Where in your life are you feeding the fear more than your desire to make a difference?
In health,
Michael