Which Wolf Are You Feeding?

Much has been written about the negatives of social media. A few of those by me. But there are some positives.

How many of us have been able to reconnect with family or friends in different parts of the country because of Facebook, Snapchat or whatever you use? I’m able to check in on family that I haven’t seen in decades.

Not gonna lie, I get some of my local news from Facebook. The way local news coverage has changed with cutbacks at the newspaper and radio newsrooms it can sometimes be your only source. Plus with people commenting in real-time you can get some valuable information on your town pages. Just be careful who you trust and you probably want to stay away from the comments sometimes.

Another positive I found is that some of my friends like to share or repost positive messages or memes that they have found. And sometimes they can come just when you need some positivity in your life.

Yesterday I read one that I thought I knew where it was going and then… WHOA! Didn’t think of that!

I was sitting down having my morning coffee yesterday when I read….

An old Cherokee told his grandson, “My son, there is a battle between two wolves inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, inferiority, lies, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy and truth.”

The boy thought about it and asked, “Grandfather, which wolf wins?”

The old man quietly replied, “The one you feed.”

Wow! I thought he was going to say “The one you let win” or the one that wins if you let your guard down.

“The one you feed.”

How many times do we feed the “Evil Wolf?”

Do you constantly scroll the internet looking at news stories or political stories that just raise your blood pressure? I believe it’s called “Doom scrolling.” Ya know, the more you read those stories, the more the algorithm is going to push those to your feed. 

I can hear it now, “But what if I miss something?” I’m pretty sure if it’s important enough you’ll hear about it eventually from another source or a relative or friend.

One of the reasons you see so many of those stories is because you keep looking at them. Clicking on them or sharing them. As I said, if you click on or like positive stories or motivational quotes you will begin to see more and more of them.

If your circle of friends or close relatives always make you feel worse or upset after hanging out with them… maybe it’s time for a change. You don’t need that negative energy in your life. And if you’re thinking, “Yeah but maybe they’ll change!” Let me know how that works out.

I’ve been in the media for over 40 years and for many of those years I’ve heard the same thing, “You never talk about the good news!” In a way, those people have been right to make that statement.

There are a number of reasons for that. I’m not saying I agree with them but I do understand.

“If it bleeds it leads.” That old saying refers to the top story in a newscast or the front page of a newspaper. (Remember the newspaper?) People are more tempted to stay with a newscast or to read the paper if the headline or top story grabs their attention. And it’s just human nature that if there’s a multi-car crash or a tragic story we want details.

Another reason is time constraints. It might be a five minute newscast on the radio, or actually three minutes when you factor in the weather and commercials. I actually listen to a show that has a one minute newscast at the top of the hour.  How do you prioritize what gets featured when you only have a minute?

Television spends quite a few minutes on the weather because “Research has shown that people can’t get enough about the weather.” 

Many radio stations TRY to do a positive news feature every now and then. I do one on the WSAR Breakfast Club on Friday mornings. It’s called “Feel Good Friday” and I’ll share my source with you so you can find some positivity. 

I keep an eye out on the local papers and local pages but a lot of my material comes from goodnewsnetwork.org. I just googled “Good news” one day and discovered it.

It’s a welcome change to all the politics and the negative news that we face everyday.

So today, maybe ask yourself, “Which wolf am I feeding?” And instead of feeding that evil wolf, what could you be doing with your time that might help others or at least be a positive use of your time?

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