The Two Wolves Within

The other night I watched a PBS documentary on boxing. It’s not something that would normally interest me, but I was intrigued because of a fellow-blogger. She writes eloquently and passionately about her wresting life. She speaks of wrestling as an art, of a match as a story, and about the close family-like bonds that develop.

The documentary was titled: Love Conquers Fear – Lessons in Boxing and Life. It takes place in a small fitness facility in Buffalo, where the owner and coach, Kevin, teaches youth not only boxing, but how to carry themselves through life. 

“How you box is how you do life,” he says to them. He encourages them to get involved in the community, taking them to plant trees and pick up litter.

Coach Kevin is a marvelous storyteller and all-round human being. The youth see him as a father figure and others in their group as family. The centre is their second home; within those walls they can be themselves and learn to release their anger and inner demons in a safe place. They grow confident in who they are.

One story Coach Kevin told hit home with one young man and also resonated with me. It is a legend sometimes attributed to the Cherokee. A grandfather is telling a story to his grandson. The grandfather says: “There are two wolves that live within each of us. One wolf is mean-spirited, thoughtless and greedy. He thinks only of himself, not the pack. He is quick to anger. The other wolf is kind and noble. He is loving. He thinks of the pack before he thinks of himself. There is a constant struggle between the two.”

“Which one is stronger? Which one wins?” asks the grandson.

“Whichever one you feed, my child. Whichever one you feed.”

This wolf image was shown on the documentary. Image from flickr.com

I’ve often pondered the opposing things that sit within each of us; the not-so-good traits we don’t wish to reveal to others, or the parts we shove down, thinking that they are not our strengths and who would want to see those?

In these days of social media and short attention spans, there is pressure to put on display only our perfect selves, the parts that we want admired and acclaimed.

But which wolf are we feeding? If we focus mostly on having our egos stroked, our external facades praised, our accomplishments hailed and applauded; if we count our successes in the number of likes and followers or houses and cars and status symbols; if we pursue merely having ourselves entertained rather than fulfilled - then which wolf are we feeding?

This year I’ve been feeding my creative side, hoping that it will grow stronger.