I think what we have to ask ourselves is how do I live now so that I know I've lived my life well when I come to the end of it.

Welcome to the one you feed throughout time great thinkers have recognized the importance of the thoughts we have quotes like garbage in garbage out or you are what you think ring true.

And yet for many of us our thoughts don't strengthen or empower us we tend toward negativity self pity jealousy or fear we see what we don't have instead of what we do we think things that hold us back and dampen our spirit.

But it's not just about thinking our actions matter it takes conscious consistent and creative effort to make a life worth living.

This podcast is about how other people keep themselves moving in the right direction how they feed their good wolf.

Thanks for joining us our guest on this episode is rebariley a blogger from paetheos.com a speaker artist and healer she's the author of post traumatic church syndrome a memoir of humor and healing in 30 religions.

I rebo welcome to the show.

Hey Eric I'm so glad to be here.

It's a pleasure to have you on you are the author of a book called post traumatic church syndrome one woman's desperate funny and healing journey which is a wonderful book and we're going to talk about it in a moment.

You're also a fellow Ohioans we have met in person even though we're not able to do this particular interview in person so I'm looking forward to this so thanks for being here.

I'm so glad you go bucks go bucks all right my mom will be very happy to hear that.

Let's let's start though like we always do with the parable there is a grandmother who's talking with her granddaughter.

We'll change it up on you and she says in life there are two wolves inside of us that are always a battle what is a good wolf which represents things like kindness and bravery and love and the others a bad wolf which represents things like greed and hatred and fear.

Granddaughter thinks about it she stops and she looks up at a grandmother she's a grandmother which one wins and the grandmother says the one you feed so I'd like to start off by asking you what that parable means to you in your life and in the work that you do the great question which one is going to win and we're always answering Eric always in the moment we're always saying which is going to win where am I going to put my energy how am I going to live this moment so I'm going to get to the end of this day.

I know you know who did I feed today where did I put my energy you know when I think about this parable I think about my work as a as a chaplain in the office of spiritual care at the local hospital here in Cincinnati.

And there's really nowhere more real in life than when you're near death and I get the privilege of sitting with people who are evaluating their lives and often really working through what did I feed and they approach it when it be ways a lot of times and one will be that they're looking at everything that is amazing about their life and all of the good that they did the people that they have around them their family their friends even if they've lost their health they're putting their energy.

And then I have energy into the recollecting the recollecting the recollecting of those memories and all of the good and then I have people who for whatever reason are not approaching it that way or are looking back over their lives and they're saying I didn't lit the way that I wish that I had I wish I had forgiven I wish I had and this I wish I had done that and I get to see in very stark terms the end of life is the answer to that question.

And so I think what we have to ask ourselves in this moment is how do I live now so that I know I've lived my life well when I come to the end of it.

That's a beautiful way of saying it and it is a clarifying perspective there's nothing quite like imagining you're at the end and thinking about looking back and going well what did I do to help really clarify kind of what's important.

Well I think it's not just what's important but also that you know what is the rich and full life and what what are those components so that we can choose them now.

You know if I want to get to the end of my life and say that I have lived with joy and kindness and supported others and I need to do those things right now today.

Yep there is only today.

...