Pick Your Wolf

A very special friend told me this story last night.  I had never heard it before...but I want to remember it always. Every day.  Short and simple, but profound, as so many small tales like this are.  Enjoy it, and take it into your heart.


A group of Cherokee children were gathered around their grandfather, the wise old Chief. They begged him for a story, and so he told them about the black wolf and the white wolf.

"We all have two wolves inside us, you see. They live in our chest. These two wolves are constantly fighting each other.”

The childrens’ eyes grew as big and bright as the moon.

“In our chests too, grandfather?” asked one grandchild.

“And in your chest too?” asked a second.

Grandfather nodded, “Yes, in my chest too”.

He continued, “There is a white wolf and a black wolf. The black wolf is filled with fear, anger, envy, jealousy, greed, and arrogance. The white wolf is filled with peace, love, hope, courage, humility, compassion, and faith. They battle constantly.”

Then he stopped. The first grandchild quietly asked, “Grandfather, which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one that we feed.”