min read 4
Which Wolf Will Win?
When you stand in front of a $1.5 billion mega sports complex glistening in the Texas sun, you can’t help but feel like you are in the presence of greatness.
I’m talking about the Dallas Cowboys entertainment and football HQ!
This thing is immaculate! From the highway, you can see the 40-foot-tall light display, a custom architectural beauty that glimmers in the central atrium. Anchored by the luxury Omni Hotel and the Ford Center, a state-of-the-art 12,000 seat indoor arena that houses the NFL team as well as 8 high school teams. This development is Jerry Jones’s version of Disney World.
A few years ago, I got the chance to visit and tour their brand-new facilities. I was in town scheduled to speak at an event at the Omni, and at the time, I didn’t even realize that the hotel was part of the Cowboys’ complex. It was a cool coincidence.
Every turn down every hallway and into every room made my jaw drop. I mean, have you ever seen a football-shaped locker room? Or a hot tub the size of your neighbor’s swimming pool? The exercise facility that was open to guests (guests!) was better than some of the NFL weight rooms I’d been in over the years.
I was psyched to be able to encourage a couple hundred people later that night, but as I walked around the complex, I felt myself drifting farther and farther away from my original purpose for being there. I started to think about what I didn’t have. I started to imagine what I could’ve been. And ultimately, where I was reminded me of where I wasn’t…
Not good.
When negative feelings fester we tend to remain in that negative place for much longer than we should. Looking back, as bummed out as I felt walking around the Cowboys’ headquarters, I probably didn’t need to remain in my gloomy feelings for as long as I did.
I’m not saying I should have immediately snapped out of that funk. I’m not a robot. I don’t think any of us have the power to tap a “Do not disturb” on our feelings so they instantaneously disappear. But while emotions aren’t something we can always control, we need to figure out what to do when they hit us in a way that’s detrimental to what really matters.
You may have heard the legend about the two wolves sometimes attributed to the Cherokee Nation. An old Indian chief is teaching his grandson lessons about life. He says, “There is a fight going on inside me between two wolves. One is evil, full of hatred, greed, anger, jealousy, lies, and selfishness, and the other is good, full of kindness, love, grace, mercy, and humility. The same fight is going on inside of you.”
The grandson thinks for a minute, then asks the chief, “Which wolf will win?”
The grandfather replied, “The one you feed.”
In the stadium that day, I didn’t have to “feed” envy and bitterness into my heart and mind. I could have starved those feelings by focusing on what I did have, on what I am grateful for, and on the numerous opportunities God’s blessed me with.
As Paul instructed the church in Colossae, rid yourselves of all “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene speech…[and] put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience” (Col 3:8,12).
As you go throughout your day, which wolf are you feeding? Recognize there is a fight. It’s a battle of the mind. Emotions come and go, but things like kindness, love, grace, mercy, and humility keep us grounded in who we truly are and what we want to be.
