The Two Wolves Within Us

Which wolf are you feeding?

I recently read about a story where an elderly woman is asked how she became so wise, respected, and loved. She replies: “I know that there are two wolves in my heart: a wolf of love and a wolf of hate. And I know that everything depends on which one I feed each day.”

We all have the capacity for love, compassion, and generosity, but we also have the potential for hate, selfishness, and malice. As a human, we’re bound to feel both wolves to varying levels, but thankfully we have some control in the matter of which we feel more.

This concept may seem simple, but can be difficult to fully grasp.

The wolf of hate has actually helped us survive as a species. Our DNA is partially wired to “other” those who are different than us-think back to our ancestors making sure their tribe lived-but thanks to our evolved brains and accompanying wisdom, we know that we can nurture the wolf of love with practice and see the wolf of hate without as much fear and anger. The wolf of hate has some usefulness, such as protecting us in moments of danger, but ultimately should be used sparingly, when needed.

We can use our executive functioning skills to regulate negative emotions, especially in regard to our feelings about people who are different than us.

We need not love strangers as we love our family, but we can at least have some baseline compassion for others. If one has the means, then generosity over selfishness can prevail. Compassion over judgment can lead the way.

This is not easy and I know I need to work hard at it, but with practice we can start to notice important differences.

Find that wolf of love and feed it for yourself and others.

We All Need More SLEEP

 

 

We need sleep. All of us. Unless you have a super rare genetic make-up that allows you to function fully on lower sleep-probably not you-then you need sleep. Sleep is written into our genetic coding and despite what the macho guy who says “I can go on 4 hours a night” tells you, evolution wants us to get 7-9 hours and we should work very hard to make that happen. I recently came across Matt Walker, well-known sleep expert, listening to Peter Attia’s podcast. Below is the Ted Talk he is well-known for. 

The podcast episode I was listening to was actually part one of a three part series, all over an hour. Sleep is more complex than we realize.

Ultimately, their conversation renewed my vigor for getting to bed early and shooting for eight hours. 

There are so many important points to be made, but below are some things that stuck with me:

• In the future, we will likely look back on electronic use before bed similar to how we look back on the accepted and encouraged use of cigarettes all the way into the 1960s. Basically, if you’re one who sits on their phone or in front of a laptop all the way up until bedtime (me sometimes), this is not good for us and as more data comes out we may find out the effects are actually horrible.
• Sleep deprivation leads to increased risk for a multitude of issues, including anxiety and depression, Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and more.
• Sleep in a colder environment! Better for the body.
• Meditate a little bit before bed to help calm the mind.
• Go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time. Routine is key.

Worth a Listen

Sometimes you really can learn a lot from shorter YouTube clips. One of my favorite things to do when I’m hungry for information and inspiration. This is absolutely worth a listen. Lots of wisdom clearly articulated with energy and empathy.