You read the title right, everyone has two selves.
One that is built on destruction and the other is built on what is best for you.
You might be saying, I’m not schizophrenic Dave, where are you going with this?
Keep reading I thing you will see it isn’t far-fetched at all.
In fact, most practicing Jew’s have a deep understanding of this because this has been passed down to them for over 5000 years.
In his book, Thou Shall Prosper, Rabbi Daniel Lapin discusses not only this subject in depth but goes into why it is not only good to prosper but that it is also your duty and if you don’t recognize both selves one of those selves will destroy you.
One of ourselves is logical, reasons well, is the voice that tells us to exercise, get up for work, work hard, finish what we start, be kind to others, be honest, loyal and love on a level that can be hard to comprehend.
This self, makes decisions based in logic and reason.
The other is the voice that keeps talking to us and telling us to do the “fun” things.
The one that convinces you to eat that extra piece of chocolate cake, have another drink, have an affair (no one will know), be dishonest, disloyal and the voice that tells you that you are too busy to help a fellow human being in need (or maybe just expect the government to do it for you).
This voice usually disguises itself as fun but long term this is the self-destructive voice that we all have. The Bible even tells us that sin can be fun for a while in the book of Hebrews, 11:24-25 which says, “By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.”
Fleeting pleasures would imply that they are real and fun but they do go away.
This self, makes decision based upon emotion.
These two selves are alive and well in every one of us.
Knowing that they exist allows you the ability to recognize the schemes of the self-destructive self and make decisions based in logic and not emotion.
Native American’s believe in the two selves also, an old Cherokee saying goes like this.
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life: A fight is going on inside us, he said to the boy.
It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.
One is evil, he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
He continued, 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 grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: Which wolf will win?
The old Cherokee simply replied, The one you feed.
It’s a lot of little things in life that make up the big things.
Which wolf will you choose to feed?
If you choose to feed the good wolf you need to know the evil wolf will not go down without a battle and the evil wolf is the best liar there is because that liar convinces us to lie to ourselves and somehow we believe it.
The worst most destructive lies are the ones we tell ourselves.
When my kids were young and they were trying to convince me of some scheme they had planned, I had an expression I would say to them which I’m sure they got tired of hearing.
I often said, go into your room and look into the mirror, convince that person first and then come back and try and convince me.
All pain begins when we believe our own lies and end when we are honest with ourselves.
The choice is yours.
To your lifelong prosperity,
David Mulvaney