The Two Wolves

An old Cherokee grandfather sat by a crackling fire with his young grandson, watching the embers float up into the starry night sky.

"Grandson," he said quietly, "there is a battle going on inside me. Inside everyone."

The boy scooted closer. "What kind of battle, Grandfather?"

"It is a fight between two wolves."

The boy's eyes went wide.

"One wolf is darkness. He is anger, jealousy, sorrow, greed, self-pity, guilt, and resentment. He growls at everything good and bites at every hand that reaches out to help."

The grandfather paused, poking the fire with a long stick.

"The other wolf is light. He is joy, peace, love, hope, kindness, humility, generosity, truth, and compassion. He wags his tail at strangers, shares his food, and lies down gently beside those who are hurting."

The grandson thought about this for a long, quiet moment. The fire popped and crackled between them.

Finally, the boy looked up and asked: "Grandfather… which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee man smiled softly and replied:

"The one you feed."

---

The grandson sat with those words for a long time. Then he asked another question — a wise one for such a young boy.

"But Grandfather, if I stop feeding the dark wolf, won't he be angry? Won't he fight harder?"

The grandfather nodded. "He will, at first. A hungry wolf is a desperate wolf. But here's what I've learned: you don't defeat the dark wolf by fighting him. You defeat him by making the light wolf so strong, so well-fed, so full of love, that the darkness simply has nowhere left to go."

The boy smiled and leaned into his grandfather's shoulder.

Somewhere in the woods, a wolf howled.

But it sounded like singing.