Articles to help optimize your life

It’s an old tale

Like most old tales, we don’t really know where it comes from. If we’re being honest where doesn’t matter.

Like most meaningful tales, it invites us to reflect on ourselves in order to create something meaningful. What that meaningful something is is up to you.

A grandson is talking to his grandmother

Something happened that the little boy couldn’t understand. Another kid beat him up, or he did something that he knew he shouldn’t, or he was just afraid because of something that happened to him. What happened isn’t as important as the fact that the boy was scared.

Grandmother sits the boy down and begins to tell him a story.

“Grandson, inside every man, every woman, and every child there are two wolves. These wolves are locked in a battle, a battle whose outcome determines the life of every person. And you too have two wolves battling within you.” She begins.

“One wolf is full of anger, full of selfishness, and full of fear. They are jealousy, sorrow, regret, arrogance, false pride, greed, and ego.” She says to him in an ominous tone.

“The other wolf,” She continues in a lighter tone, “is full of love, full of peace, and generosity. This wolf is faith, it is joy, it is benevolence, it is empathy and kindness.” And here she stops, letting her grandson absorb what she has said.

The boy thinks for a few moments, and then looks at his grandmother. “Yeah, but which wolf wins the battle?” he asks.

Grandmother smiles, looks deep into his eyes, and simply responds “The one that you feed.”

A tale for your life

Just like that little boy, you’ve got two wolves fighting within you. Learning to recognize them can help in experiencing all your feelings without getting lost in them. More importantly – it helps you decide which one you want to feed.

The choice is yours.