If you want to know the secret to a happy life, ask someone who has lived one.  That’s exactly what John Izzo did.  He interviewed over 200 people, ages 60-106, each of whom was identified by friends and acquaintances as “the one person they knew who had found happiness and meaning.” Happiness came from all walks of life:   town barbers,  Holocaust survivors, aboriginal chiefs and CEO’s.

In Izzo’s book, “The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die”, he repeated a wonderful story from Navajo tradition that you should ponder.

An old Navajo told his grandson that sometimes he feels there is a fight that is going on inside him.   He said it is a fight between two wolves.   “One wolf is evil.  It is the wolf of anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, superiority, fear of healing my body and mind, fear of succeeding, fear of exploring what has been said by others to be truth, fear of walking in others’ moccasins and seeing glimpses of their reality through their eyes and their hearts, using empty excuses that my heart knows to be false.

The other wolf is good.  It is the wolf of joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, empathy, caring for those who have helped me even though their efforts have not always been perfect, the willingness to forgive myself and others, and realizing that my destiny is in my hands”.

The grandson thought about it and asked, “But grandfather, which wolf wins?”

His grandfather replied, “The wolf that I choose to feed.”

To live a happy life, simply choose to feed the good wolf .  Which wolf have you been feeding?

Molly