Which Dog Will You Feed?
 

There was once a young girl who went to her grandmother’s house. It was her custom to ask her grandmother many questions about life. One day the young girl came into the grandmother’s cozy little house with a look of pure rage on her face.

“What has happened, little one?” the grandmother asked softly. The anger immediately left the girl’s face and she crumpled into a sobbing mass of tears. The girl recounted her day to her grandmother.  

“I went to the store today, and while I was there I bought the most beautiful hair barrette. I had saved my money so that I could buy it. It was shiny and beautiful and something I wanted very badly.”

“And then what happened,” the kindly grandmother asked.

“Well, I went outside and was admiring my new barrette in the sunlight when three girls who I know from school came up to me. They started laughing at me and saying that I was ugly, then one of the girls pushed me down to the ground and another girl pulled the barrette from my hand. They said I was too ugly for such a beautiful thing.”

The girl stopped and the anger and rage returned to her face. “I hate those girls. I hate them more than anything in the world.”

The old grandmother, who had been in the world for a long time, wrapped her arms warmly around her granddaughter.

“There, there,” the old woman said. “I, too, have felt what you’re feeling when people have taken things from me with no remorse or regret, but these feelings will wear you down and wear you out. It is like drinking a cup of poison in hope that it will make your enemy die, but in the end the poison will only hurt you.

“I have had these same feelings many times in life. It is as if there are two dogs inside of me. One is always good and does no harm. He is loyal and lives in harmony with me. He does not take offense in life, when it does no good to do so. He will fight when the time is right, and fight nobly, but if it would be to no avail he lets it go. The other dog is full of anger. The least little thing makes him go off, and he is ready to fight. He wants to fight everyone all the time and he doesn’t really have to have a reason for the fight. His anger keeps him from thinking. His anger is helpless and will change nothing. It is hard to live with these two animals inside of me. Both of them are always trying to win.”

“Which one wins, grandmother?” the little girl asked.

“Ah,” said the old woman, “it is always the one I feed.”