“Indulge in lust but a little, and lust like a child will grow.”
— Buddha
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There’s an old native American story about an elder educating a child on the two wolves that exist within every human heart, struggling for dominance.
On one hand we have the wolf of fear – and all that comes from fear: anger and doubt and worry and haste and comparison and need and guilt and shame and the whole tribe of lesser demons of our lesser natures.
On the other is the wolf of love – and all the greater angels that follow: presence, clarity, joy, compassion, appreciation, courage, patience, flow and forgiveness.
The child asks, “Which of these wolves is the stronger?”, to which the Grandmother replies, “The one that you feed”.
Maybe you’ve heard this before?
It’s 100% true.
Like Buddha once said, “Indulge in lust but a little, and lust like a child will grow.” Pick your poison. Lust, fear, doubt, anger … they are all the same thing.
It’s a crucial lesson to realise. What you focus on, grows. And it grows fast. It becomes your experience of life quickly.
From this one inner choice, your whole outer existence changes … right? Can you see that?
A little fear changes everything you see. A little love does the same. Doubt grows exponentially. Staying true to what you want, and giving zero attention to what you don’t … same same.
Mastering the inner game changes your outer game.
A life of greyness, half-empty, lack, broken, not possible …? Or a full life, rich, exciting, complete with possibility?
It all begins within.
Now –
You can always make another choice. And that choice tips the balance. Sustain that choice – do your best consistently – and the weight and momentum of that choice means it’s easier to choose – you fall more and more smoothly into one or the other.
But choose you must … there is always that potential within you.
I don’t want to scare you, because you can always turn it around. But it’s easier to turn a small stick around compared with a mighty freighter – do you see?
Here’s what I do, amongst other things.
Wake up every morning and remind yourself – in whatever way works for you – of the person you want to be.
Prioritise your choice to be what you want (start now) – and then you’ll notice yourself slipping and will be able to pull yourself back faster and faster.
It’s habitual, so it’ll take practice.
It’s an important thing, perhaps the most important thing. But it’ll get lost in the busy-ness of your day, so you’ll have to make sure you make time for it.
It seems so insignificant a choice, you’ve got so many more urgent things to do, but it is the foundation for your entire life. So put a practice in place so you make it happen, consistently.
It’s worth everything.
I’ll leave you with a vision, a “What if?”.
What if you became so good at feeding the right wolf, nothing else could grow?
How would you feel about how you’re making your way in the world? How would you relationships be – with yourself? With others? How would you sleep at night?
What kind of life would you be living? What would be possible?
Feed the right wolf.
Start now, and when you forget, get going on feeding the Good again.
Perhaps you might see that it’s the only real choice that matters.
Go well,
Arjuna