Many of us know the Cherokee parable of the two wolves fighting within; one is positive, one is negative and the one that wins is the one that you feed. I can see this metaphor working daily within my life, whether it be my attitude, my motivation, or my emotional journey. I find myself irritated when I focus on what is going wrong, and motivated when I focus on gratitude and acceptance. When I tell myself each morning that “I get to run” as opposed to “I have to run,” the workout usually flies by. Having extended time off within the summer is both necessary to recover from my overpacked school year schedule (some 16 hour days sprinkled in throughout the week) as well as an exercise in staying motivated. I began this summer with plans to write, to deeply engage with my marathon training, to plan the next school year, as well as engage in some educational experiences for myself. This takes balance as there are many days that once the alarm goes off all I want to do is plan a nap and read a mindless romcom. But I do have plenty of work to do, I have a half completed memoir and the bones of a novel waiting in the wings. I can volunteer to teach yoga classes, can research titles for one of the electives I teach, or maybe even clean the house. Yet visions of lounging dance in my head. That new Ali Hazelwood novel beckons, whispers…”come escape with me.” Today I am choosing to attempt to balance my day. I began with a 4 mile run, took yoga and barre, went grocery shopping with recipes in mind, ate a nutritious protein-packed lunch, am now writing a blog post, and am about to take a nap. It is a start. Whether I actually cook the vegan cheesy mac after my nap remains to be seen. Today I am feeding both wolves.