Two Wolves

An American Indian grandfather was talking to his beloved grandson about his feelings:

Grandfather: I have two wolves fighting in my heart. One wolf is the vengeful, angry, violent one. The other wolf is the loving, compassionate one.

Grandson: Which wolf will win the fight in your heart, Grandfather?

Grandfather: The one that I feed.

I love that story… But it did make me wonder how this story would be told in the twenty first century???

A twenty-first century Neuroscientist grandfather was talking to his beloved grandson about the conundrum of human cognition.   

Grandfather: We have two areas in our brain that appear to be in a constant struggle.

One area is extremely emotional and compulsive…it avoids pain by seeking pleasure with no regard of consequences.

The other area is the voice of logic and reason…it is fully conscious of the consequences of its/our behavior.

Grandson: Which area will win the fight in your head, Grandfather?

Grandfather: The one that I feed.

We all have emotions and compulsions that preside within us... It is but a matter of degrees.

We also all have logic and reason in us... It is but a matter of degrees.

We all have a choice in which of these areas we choose to feed and develop in ourselves…

Which one will we choose?

"It is the mind that maketh good or ill, that maketh wretched or happy, rich or poor." -                                                                                         ~Edmund Spencer