Who Will You Feed in the Self-Health Tug-of-War?

Ever played the game tug-of-war?

I’m sure you played it in gym class, so you know it’s where there’s a rope with either one person on each side or a team on each side.

One side aims to overpower the other by pulling them down or across a line.

This is much like life.

I call this the “Self-Health Tug-of-War.”

This is where our healthy positive self is battling against our unhealthy negative self.

It can be things like:

- self-sabotage

- battling inner demons (and real demons)

- fighting temptation

- overcoming distractions

- fear of success

- fear of failure

- fear of missing out

Unfortunately, we can often be our own worst enemy.

It’s frustrating when we’re the ones putting stumbling blocks in our own path.

For me, this has been true off and on for the past decade.

I’ve been battling things like overusing alcohol, fast food, and binge-watching TV.

This all produced more negative thoughts and emotions, weight gain, brain fog, and financial hurdles.

It also puts more strain on relationships.

It’s not fun. But it is real.

Even the Apostle Paul referred to this “inner battle”... The battle between the flesh and the Spirit.

The desire to gratify and indulge the flesh vs. the desire to follow and please the Spirit.

He said that as long as we’re in our Earthly bodies, we will never be free from this struggle.

It’s also like the story of the Two Wolves.

It’s a well-known Cherokee parable about the internal moral struggle within human beings.

In this parable, an elder tells his grandchild that there are two wolves battling inside us.

One wolf represents virtues like kindness, bravery, and love.

The other wolf embodies negative traits like greed, hatred, and fear.

The grandchild asks, "Which wolf will win?"

The elder replies, "The one you feed."

This story is often told as a lesson about the importance of the choices we make and the values we cultivate.

It suggests that we can shape our character by choosing which "wolf" to feed.

This is the same with the healthy positive self vs. the unhealthy negative self.

The one you feed the most is the one who wins.

What habits or behaviors do you want to change so that you start feeding your healthy, positive self?

Focus on one change at a time.

Start small.

Build consistency.

Starve your unhealthy negative self.

I’m right there with you. We’re on this journey together.