The Steppenwolf and The Sadness of Letting Go 3

What good has the Steppenwolf done for me? As it ages and turns me in a new direction, attention must be paid. (I love that sentence--attention must be paid. It comes at the end of Death of a Salesman when Linda Loman talks about her dead husband.)

The Steppenwolf is always honest and has very few fears. One of these fears is starvation. My wolf is the reason I can never stick to a weight loss plan. To do the things it's called upon to accomplish, the wolf needs food. It took me years to realize this. So I made a deal with the Steppenwolf. After doing some reading on the subject I stopped trying to do a makeover on myself; that is, to lose a small amount of weight and keep it off. Now, the wolf is satisfied and at rest. It knows it won't be denied the fuel it needs to work and fight and survive. And I am far from perfect but I am somewhat healthier this way.

There are a lot of examples of the strength of the wolf but I need to tread softly here. Most of these examples affected others, loved ones, and I don't want to hurt anybody needlessly. In my role as a mother there are many good examples. I never feared going to Michael's school and speaking plainly to any teacher--or the Vice Principal!--if I thought my son's needs weren't being fulfilled. I think that probably the employees of the Rose Tree Media School System breathed a sigh of relief when Michael Mastroianni graduated. I was never rude; just firm. Michael hated "group projects" because he said that he always did the work and others took credit for it. He wanted to work by himself. So I went to Penncrest High School and told this to the teacher and Michael got what he needed. This is the wolf's work.