The Two Wolves
What follows is a Cherokee folktale that illustrates how the human conscience has two parts that fight against you and each other.
An old chief was guiding his grandson about life. He said, “There is a fight between two wolves happening in each of us. One is evil because he is filled with deceit, anger, envy, sadness, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, hate, and hubris. He wants you to fail and believe that you are so worthless that you give up.”
The old man continued. “The other wolf is good because he has joy, truth, peace, hope, humility, kindness, empathy, generosity, compassion, and faith. He wants you to succeed and protect yourself against dangers.”
The boy asked, “Which wolf wins the fight?”
“The one you feed.”
The chief advised his grandson that whichever wolf you feed is the one that wins. What do the wolves eat? Your attention feeds them. Therefore, you must decide which wolf to pay attention to.