We're all familiar with the short version of The Tale Of Two Wolves.
He said, "A fight is going on inside me," he told the young boy, "a fight between two wolves.
The Dark one is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego."
He continued, "The Light Wolf is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.
The same fight is going on inside you, Grandson…and inside of every other person on the face of this earth.
The grandson ponders this for a moment and then asked, "Grandfather, which wolf will win?"
The old Cherokee smiled and simply said, "The one you feed."
But that's only half the story. It plays into the False Dichotomy Fallacy, where everything is always and only one thing, or always and only the other thing.
If you stop there, and you simply reject dichotomy out of hand, you're risking an easy slide into the False Equivalency Fallacy, and end up with the very toxic Both Sides thing that some Press Poodles and politicos are still peddling to us all day every day in order to keep us frozen in the middle. So we have to be careful. We have to be skeptical, and we have to ask questions, and we have think critically.
The rest of the story goes like this:
If I choose only to feed the Light wolf, the Dark wolf will be hiding around every corner waiting for me to become distracted or weak and jump to get the attention he craves. He will always be angry and will always fight the Light wolf.
But if I acknowledge him, he is happy and the Light wolf is happy and we all win.
For the Dark wolf has many qualities - tenacity, courage, fearlessness, a strong will, and great strategic thinking - that I have need of at times. These are the very things the Light wolf lacks.
But the Light wolf has compassion, caring, strength of character, and the ability to recognize what is in the best interest of all.
The Light wolf needs the Dark wolf at his side. To feed only one would starve the other and they will become uncontrollable. To feed and care for both means they will serve you well and do nothing that is not a part of something greater, something good, something of life.
Feed them both and there will be no more internal struggle for your attention. And when there is no battle inside, you can listen to the voices of deeper knowing that will guide you in choosing what is right in every circumstance.
Peace is the Cherokee mission in life. A man or a woman who has peace inside has everything. A man or a woman who is pulled apart by the war inside him or her has nothing.
How you choose to interact with the opposing forces within you will determine your life. Starve one or the other or guide them both.
The Light wolf needs the Dark wolf at his side. To feed only one would starve the other and they will become uncontrollable. To feed and care for both means they will serve you well and do nothing that is not a part of something greater, something good, something of life.
Feed them both and there will be no more internal struggle for your attention. And when there is no battle inside, you can listen to the voices of deeper knowing that will guide you in choosing what is right in every circumstance.
Peace is the Cherokee mission in life. A man or a woman who has peace inside has everything. A man or a woman who is pulled apart by the war inside him or her has nothing.
How you choose to interact with the opposing forces within you will determine your life. Starve one or the other or guide them both.
