Have you ever heard the story of two wolves?

An older man is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he told 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 every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it briefly and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old man replied, “The one you feed.”

This story has significance as it is based on Freud’s Eros and Thanatos theory, also known as the life and death instincts, which is a critical concept in Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality. Freud proposed that human behaviour is driven by two fundamental instincts: Eros (the life instinct) and Thanatos (the death instinct). These instincts are believed to influence our actions, motivations, and emotions.

Eros (Life Instinct): Eros is the life-affirming instinct that promotes survival, reproduction, pleasure, and preserving the self and species. It encompasses all the drives and impulses that seek joy, love, and satisfaction. It drives eating, drinking, sexual activities, and other pleasure-seeking tendencies.

Thanatos (Death Instinct): Thanatos is the opposite of Eros, representing humans’ destructive and aggressive drive. It is associated with the desire for self-destruction and the return to an inorganic state. Freud believed that the Thanatos instinct drives aggressive and destructive behaviours and plays a role in our attraction to danger, violence, and risk.

According to Freud, these two instincts constantly conflict within the individual’s psyche. Eros seeks to preserve life and maintain harmony, while Thanatos can lead to self-destructive tendencies and aggressive behaviour. The interplay between these opposing forces contributes to human behaviour and personality complexity.

Life has its way of testing us, as it presents itself in different disguises. Opportunity comes as a challenge; love comes enveloped in distress; hope comes with fear of failures; friendships brew in enmity, and life itself comes veiled in death. Our response to these fallacies defines us. It often depends on what we are looking for in life. The concept of chasing possibilities in life is of utmost importance. 

There is no clear separation between the opposites in life; they coexist. We must be able to pick the one that liberates and sets us free from the fears we hold inside.