Can we love?

"A Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner. 'Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time.' When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, 'The one I feed the most.'" - George Bernard Shaw

From "No Bodys Perfect" by Kimberly Kirberger


Thought to ponder - Can we love ourselves if we are feeding the mean and evil dog most?


You have to learn to love yourself and be confident in who you are and what makes you unique before you can truly love others. My favorite part of the above quote is the response to which dog wins. Every person fights a constant self battle of good vs. evil, positive vs. negative in their head.
Both men and women are constantly feeding either their good or evil dog with positive or negative thoughts about themselves. When we feed most the evil dog, we neglect our self and how we feel about our self. Our confidence is lowered and we tend to not only show this in our attitude toward ourselves but also in our attitude toward others.


Within the book it discuss one girl who was in a relationship with a terrific guy. She had found her romeo, someone who truly loved her and did everything in his power to help build her up. However, she was constantly feeding the evil dog inside her head, destroying her own self image, the way she thought about herself. Her own worst enemy. She let the evil dog win.
When the girl lost sight of her own self love, it turned outward. She lost confidence in herself, she began to think her romeo was cheating or going to leave her, thinking he saw the flaws that she obsessed over in regards to herself and he had lost the love he had for her. This had not been the case. He did not notice these 'flaws.' He loved her for who she was, for her unique individuality. But, the relationship ended because her own demise of herself became so strong that she could not love her romeo the way he loved her.


When we cannot love ourselves, we obsess over the things we do not love, therefore destroying our love for those who love us.