Speech-

I'm giving a talk this weekend at church. The subject is commitment. I'm probably not going to use these two stories but thought they were good enough to put up here on the blog.

I'll want to focus on keeping our commitments despite negative voices that may surround us. I've been listening to NPR recently and they are doing a series on people who have defied odds to achieve success. One guest talked about getting out of "the crab bucket". When one crab has a chance to climb out of the bucket others will always try to pull him down. This happens often to kids who dream of going to college, but are talked out of it by family and friends. The success stories I've heard on NPR are all about individuals with very strong commitments, it's amazing what some have gone through to get their degrees.

Anyway. This is the story I want to put up here. It is a legend attributed to the Cherokee Indian Tribe.

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all.” One is EVIL. It is anger, envy, jealously, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, and ego. The other is GOOD. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, empathy, generosity, truth and faith."

The grandson thought for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

What wolf do we "feed"? Do we dwell on the unsupportive words of others, or do we listen to the encouraging words that will lift us up? It's hard, but we need to see through all the pessimists and focus only on our potential.

Commitment is quite a challenge. Hopefully my talk will go well.

Scott