The Two Wolves (PHB Style)

There’s a story I love, and I think of it often as I navigate being a healthy person… maybe you’ve heard it before.

An old Cherokee Indian chief was teaching his grandson about life.

He said, “A fight is going on inside me,” he told the young boy, “a fight between two wolves.

The Dark one is evil — he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The Light Wolf is good — he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you grandson…and inside of every other person on the face of this earth.”

The grandson ponders this for a moment and then asked, “Grandfather, which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee smiled and simply said, “The one you feed”.

My version goes like this….

An elder is talking with their grandchild and says:

“Inside of me, there’s a battle going on — a tug-of-war between two wolves.

One wolf is fear. She’s fueled by insecurity, shame, comparison, judgment, and self-sabotage. She whispers things like ‘you’re not good enough,’ or ‘you’ll always fail,’ or ‘what’s the point?’

The other wolf is love. She’s fueled by self-worth, compassion, courage, and truth. She reminds me: ‘you are enough,’ ‘you can do hard things,’ and ‘your past does not define you.’

These wolves live inside all of us. They show up in our thoughts, our habits, our food choices, our movement, even the way we talk to ourselves in the mirror.”

The grandchild thinks for a minute and asks,

“Which wolf wins?”

The elder smiles and says,

“Whichever one you feed.”

What This Means in PHB:

Every time you choose to drink water instead of diet soda…
Every time you go for a walk instead of scrolling…
Every time you pause and breathe instead of spiraling into shame…
Every time you speak to yourself with kindness instead of criticism…

You are feeding the wolf of self-love.

This journey isn’t about perfection. It’s about becoming the kind of person who learns how to pause, choose, and feed the right wolf — over and over again.

We’re not here to starve the bad wolf by force — we’re here to nourish the good one so powerfully, the other fades away.

Maybe this version will help you too.

Much love,

Jennifer