Which Wolves Are You Feeding?
🤔 The meal we all share
There’s a powerful Indigenous American story about two wolves.
An elder tells his grandchild that, within every person, there’s a battle raging between two wolves. One wolf represents anger, greed, arrogance, and resentment. The other stands for joy, love, humility, and generosity.
“Which wolf will win?” the grandchild asks.
“The one you feed.”
This is a fantastic metaphor for our ongoing inner conflict. But there’s an external element to this as well, captured beautifully by Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh:
“When we say something that nourishes us and uplifts the people around us, we are feeding love and compassion. When we speak and act in a way that causes tension and anger, we are nourishing violence and suffering.”
Turns out we’re feeding more than one wolf. Every spoken and internalized word, every action and inaction, feeds our lesser selves or the better angels of our nature. It’s a communal meal.
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