Who are YOU feeding?

Earlier today, I watched a video where the speaker told the story of an old Cherokee Chief who told his son the story of two wolves. 

He said:

He said, "My son, the battle is between
two "wolves" inside us all.

One is Evil.
It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed,
arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies,
false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good.
It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute
and then asked his grandfather:
"Which wolf wins?"

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

                                                    

This really made me stop and think. Who am I feeding?

  When I let my irritation at my co-workers prevent me from being there for my team- I am feeding my anger. When I dwell on past mistakes, I am feeding regret. 

When I count my blessings, I am feeding my gratitude. When I look for ways to help others, I am feeding my compassion. When I work to be closer to my Heavenly Father, I am feeding my faith.  

Sometimes the evil wolf’s growls and snarls drown out the good wolf, but that doesn’t mean feeding him will make us any happier. When we focus on feeding the good, we are rewarded with a far better outcome.  Joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. This is what I want to strive for.

Every now and then, we all need to stop and question: “Who am I feeding?”

Leadership with a Small "L"

Earlier this week, I had a job interview where I was asked about my management style. I immediately thought back to a BYU-I devotional I had read a couple of years ago. It was titled “Leadership with a Small “L”.  Since that time, I have tried to pattern my management style in this way. Later, as I reflected on my answers in the interview, I decided that I needed to find the devotional and read it again.

Imagine my surprise the next day when I discovered it in the reading material for this week! I’m so glad it was. I feel like I had a pretty good handle with leading my example with love, but I had forgotten a very important step… Principle #2 “Lead with Vision”.  As this principle states, “One of the most important things that leaders do is to help the people they lead understand the larger meaning and purpose of their daily work”  This can apply to all facets of life, whether it’s at work or at home. I think this may be what is missing for me in my current career. It has started to feel like we are simply checking things off on a list at work- I have lost my passion! I think it may be time to step back and regain my view of the bigger picture. Only then can I lead with a small “

Put on your stethoscope and keep going

Five years ago, I made the decision to return to school to get my nursing degree. I was nervous; I had been out of school for twenty years, and wasn’t sure I had what it took to go back. About that same time, I reconnected with a childhood friend, Cynthis. She has always been one of my biggest cheerleaders, giving me the confidence to keep going when I wanted to give up.  When I told her about my decision, she presented me with a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff.

 She told me that she had confidence in me and knew I could do anything I set my mind to. Although I have changed my major, I keep that stethoscope on a shelf. When I am tired and want to quit, I look at it and remember that someone believes in me.  

This week was a good reminder that someone else believes in me. My Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ know I can do it.

Brigham Young once said “We never begin to build any temple without the bells of hell beginning to ring.”  This seems to be true in many other areas of life as well. Sometimes it’s one step forward, two steps back, sometimes we get two steps forward before we are pushed a step back. In the past few years, since I began school, our family has faced addiction, betrayal, marital problems, even death. Throughout it all, I have had two things keeping me going. That stethoscope and my faith in God.  

The path to mastery

Over the past few weeks, we have been reading George Leonard’s book Mastery. The premise of the book is to describe how to master a specific skill. I’ll be honest- the only thing I would ever recommend this book for is a cure for insomnia!

ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

I lost track of how many times I dropped the book because I fell asleep while I was reading it. The drivel I was reading sounded like a weak regurgitation of every single self-help book I have ever read. And I have read A LOT! (I need lots of help.) 

I couldn’t understand why it was required reading. Generally the books we are assigned have some redeeming factors… Not this one. 

Have you ever heard that song “Say what you want to say”?  7.5 minutes of that same phrase being repeated over and over and over…. That song was going through my mind the entire first ¾ of the book. 

Until this week. I finally got to the chapters that seemed to have some redeeming qualities. Insightful information without the meandering ramblings of the author. 

I was happy to finally have something to write my book report on- and ecstatic that I was almost done with the book! I couldn’t understand why this one was chosen. There are so many better books out there. As I looked over my notes and the highlighted sections in the book, I realized that I actually learned more than I thought I had. Some of that “drivel” actually tied it together in a nice little bow. Maybe, just maybe, this book was meant to be read multiple times- teaching the principles and concepts more each time. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so quick to judge and dismiss the book. Maybe this is just the beginning of the path to mastery….