The story goes that a Cherokee grandfather is teaching his grandchild about life and tells his grandchild this story:

“A fight is going on inside me,” he says to the child. “It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves. One wolf is evil: he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continues, “The other 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 and inside every other person, too.”

The child thinks about it for a minute and then asks solemnly, “Grandfather, which wolf will win?”

His grandfather replies, “The one you feed.”

For centuries, coming out of the monastic tradition, Christians have adopted something called a “rule of life”—a pattern by which a person feeds the holy and human parts of themselves. A rule is a consciously adopted pattern of prayer, study, rest, and work that feeds “the good wolf” while at the same time withdraws energy from all that the “bad wolf” represents.

What we feed in our life matters. What we spend our time and energy on shapes who we are and the choices we make.

Various (2011). Walking with God Day by Day: A Year of Meditations (Kindle Locations 480-492). Forward Movement. Kindle Edition.