The Dogs We Feed

Tell me, you who are so wise, what is in your mind?”

“In my mind there are two dogs, one black and one white. The black dog is full of hate, anger, and pessimism. The white one is filled with love, generosity, and optimism. They fight all the time.”

His disciple is taken aback. “Two dogs? Who fight each other?”

“Yes, almost all the time.”

“And which one wins?”

“The one I feed more.”

Negativity is a hungry beast. This well-known parable speaks to what happens when we focus on everything going wrong. Problems, bad situations, and anger will always exist. The attention and energy we give them is what either makes them very BIG or very small.

When we face negativity head-on, by seeking solutions and pulling the positive from the situation, we stay in control. But the moment we let problems consume our mental space, we begin to give our power away. And the longer we delay, the heavier everything feels.

I’ve always been an overthinker. I let problems roll around in my mind for days, doing nothing, until they take up so much space they start to affect other parts of my life.

But over the past year, I’ve learned to start handing out eviction notices, freeing up space for new ideas, understanding, and creativity.

Problems aren’t necessarily bad. They’re neutral. But they have such a bad reputation that we often treat them like enemies.

Honestly, without problems, we wouldn’t learn. We wouldn’t challenge ourselves. We wouldn’t grow.

If everything were always perfect, there’d be no need for reflection, no spark for change.

So when we begin to see each problem, situation, and negative thought as a stepping stone, we start to realize it’s not all bad.

The dogs will always live within you.  Just remember, you are the one that holds the leash.