The clever ways that life lessons are imparted in parables can make the consideration of their complex meanings an enjoyable, if not absorbing, pasttime. While browsing various media sources, I have often come across this Cherokee parable. Its application to the basic tenet of cogitive psychotherapy (the way we think affects the way we feel) and the wisdom of self-understanding is substantial. The parable alludes to the consequences of what we exposure our minds to in the form of thoughts. When we think positively, we are likely to have greater well-being and feel good. When we think negatively, we are likely to have dimnished well-being and feel bad. Thus, we are what we think.
Two Wolves: A Cherokee Teaching
Submitted by Holly Houston, Ph.D.
Licensed Clinical Psychologist