Xavier the Brave

        The boy stood in an open clearing. The full moon shone down, causing tiny fragments of the white snow to glisten like diamonds.  Across the clearing a figure paused. The child found himself staring into the eyes of a magnificent beast. The black wolf was motionless; the boy didn't flinch. No fear existed in either the heart or the mind of the young boy. He instantly knew this beast to be a part of him, knew that they were a part of each other. The wolf walked steadily and purposefully towards the boy. When their faces became so close that they could both feel the others' breath upon their cheeks, the wolf licked the boy's face gently. Xavier giggled and wrapped his arms around the wolf. Finally, they'd found each other...

I've been telling Xavier stories about the boy, Xavier, and his companion, a black wolf. They run around the forest helping whatever animals need help. It's fun to make up stories. The picture I found came with a great little Cherokee tale that I first heard at a yoga class (Dustin Fruson told it to us while we were in savasana). I like to tell it when I teach kids yoga. It goes like this:

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 & ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy, & truth.” The boy thought about it, and asked, “Grandfather, which wolf wins?” The old man quietly replied, “The one you feed.”

The version I heard began a little differently but the point is that practice makes perfect. The more we feed our anger, jealousy, greed and such the stronger it will get. The more often we get angry, the better we get at becoming angry. If we practice being joyful, loving and kind then we will get better and better at being loving and kind. 

I like wolves I guess. I wrote a story for a French kids magazine called Clin D'Oeil when I was little. It was about running away and living with wolves. I won a book or a medal or something. I wonder if that little magazine is still around? Also, I like to sing this song when I'm very hungry:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOg5VxrRTi0&ob=av3e