The One You Feed

So there’s this Native American Parable that goes a little something like this…

A grandson is talking to his grandfather and the grandfather says, “There’s always two wolves battling inside of us. There’s the good wolf who represents things like kindness, bravery, and love. There’s the bad wolf who represents things like fear, guilt, and shame.”

The grandson responds with, “Well which one wins?”

The grandfather says, “The one you feed.”

When I first heard this parable several years ago, it knocked me clean off my chair. At that time, I didn’t know that we all had that self critical voice in our heads. I thought it was just me! How freeing was it to know that I wasn’ the only one and that it was simply a matter of feeding the good wolf. 

Since I’ve heard this parable, I’ve developed somewhat of a different interpretation of it. I don’t necessarily agree that starving our bad wolf is the way to go. I think of the bad wolf instead as our wounded inner child who needs nurturing of its own. When I picture my self critical voice flaring up, I try to envision myself giving that angry and misguided wolf a hug and calming it down. 

What’s your interpretation of this parable?

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