The Light Wolf vs The Dark Wolf

Someone recently sent me an interesting story from the Cherokee Indian Tradition and it goes like this:

An old grandfather said to his grandson, who came to him with raging anger at a friend, “I too have felt great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison into your own body and wishing your enemy would suffer and die. It is as if there are two wolves inside me. One is kind and understanding and does no harm; it works to benefit the entire pack. He lives in harmony with all around and does not take offense or plot revenge. His heart is open and available to the Great Spirit. The other wolf is always vengeful, vicious and full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone and for no reason. He kills without cause or remorse. He cannot think because his resentment, anger and hate are so great. His heart is closed to the Great Spirit. Sometimes it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me. Both of them try to dominate my Spirit.” The boy looked with amazement into this wise man’s eyes and asked, “Which one wins, Grandfather?” The grandfather smiled and said, “The one that wins—is the one I feed.” 

The question becomes what wolf are we feeding? Are we filling ourselves with negativity? Maybe we are overtired or overworked. Or maybe we are angry or abusive to ourselves and others. Or maybe we are judging ourselves or others or heaping guilt upon ourselves or others. Or maybe we believe we are insignificant or feel like we or others don’t matter. All of these thoughts and emotions are feeding the dark wolf. And when we feed the dark wolf, we are out of balance, and our inner life is chaos and despair. 

With a mindfulness practice, we can wake up and choose something different for our lives. We can choose to be kind to ourselves and others. We can learn to cultivate and nurture a beautiful mind. We can learn with mindfulness to feed the light wolf. 

We can start being aware and responsible for every single thought we have. The minute we notice our mind is out of balance and the negative is creeping in, we can stop, and begin again. We can fill our time with joyful activities. We can spend time in nature. We can refrain from blame or projection or judgement. We can stay well-rested and strong with sleep and exercise and good nutrition. 

Every moment we can make a choice that can define our lives and the world around us. Even when the outside world is demanding and difficult, our inner life is what sustains us and can bring us wisdom, compassion, connectedness and inner peace.