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Allowing others to be strong.

Once upon a time, in a far off place, lived a people who were at one with the land. They lived upon the prairie at the edge of the Black Mountains. They lived in homes made of the skins of the buffalo that roamed freely about them. They followed the great buffalo herds in the summer, and in the winter they sought out the shelter of their beloved Mountains. There they had protection from the winter winds and wood for their fires. There were lots of deer and other wild game to give them food and clothing. These people lived with nature and knew her well. They taught their children all that they should know to be able to live in this land, but some things their sons and daughters had to learn on their own.

I will tell you now of two young boys that grew up here in this wild and beautiful place.

One boy was called Little Bear, and he was very fast and very strong. He learned well the ways of his people. The second boy was named Yellow Hawk, and he too was very fast and strong; but not quite as fast or as strong as Little Bear. He too learned all that his father had taught him. Both boys learned to make a fire, to ride their ponies, to hunt for food, to say their prayers and not to be afraid of the dark or of being alone. The two boys were faster, stronger and wiser than all the other boys of the village; and the other boys looked up to them. All the people knew that one day, one of these boys would be a great leader and a Chief.

As the boys grew up, Little Bear and Yellow Hawk loved to play with the other children. But they were always better than all the others at whatever they did, and sometimes the others did not want to play with them. Yes, the other boys admired Little Bear's and Yellow Hawk's speed and strength; but it was not much fun to always lose.

Both Little Bear and Yellow Hawk were very smart; but Little Bear liked winning so much, that he continued to win all the time. When he won, he was so happy and proud that he would yell, "I won. I won. I won." Around the fire at night he would tell his mother and father, "I won." He would tell all the other mothers and fathers and the other children too. Little Bear was very smart and he thought he was the smartest boy in the whole village, and maybe he was. BUT MAYBE HE WAS NOT!

At first, Yellow Hawk too, would win and say, "I won. I won." It was only with Little Bear that he did not always win; but this taught him something that Little Bear was unable to learn. Little Bear's father had told him that he was very proud of him, but that he should not always win. More importantly, his father told him that he should not always be yelling that he won. But it was so hard for Little Bear. He enjoyed winning so much. He was so proud of being the best that he found it hard not to be yelling, "I won. I won."

When Yellow Hawk's father talked with his son about not winning all the time, Yellow Hawk could understand. He knew what it felt like to lose. For when he competed against Little Bear, he did not win. So with the other boys, Yellow Hawk began not to win all the time and when he did win, he no longer yelled, " I won. I won." He saw how much it meant to his friends to win once in awhile. They could feel good about competing and not always fell like second best.

As the boys grew older, Little Bear was still the fastest and strongest. All the other boys really did admire him, but they didn't like playing with him because they felt bad when he bragged about winning. They felt much better playing with Yellow Hawk; because although they knew that Yellow Hawk was faster and stronger, they could sometimes beat him. He did not always make them feel bad by saying, "I won." All the boys loved to race and feel the wind in their hair, and they loved to wrestle and compete. They just didn't want to lose all the time.

All the boys in the village grew up to be fine young men. Little Bear grew up being the strongest and the fastest of them all. And Little Bear learned a lot growing up, but he was not smart enough to let the others feel the thrill of winning once in a while. He was not smart enough to stop boasting about his winning.

Yellow Hawk was smarter and wiser because he knew how to let the others know the thrill of winning and the joy of competing without always feeling like second best. He never said to those he beat, "I won." He instead said, "Nice race. You're really fast." He made it fun for them too.

Yellow Hawk allowed those he did things with, to feel good about themselves, and they made him their best friend and their leader. They chose Yellow Hawk to be their Chief.

 
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