Sunday, September 23, 2007

(Post # 37) Some Times Provoking Transformation Is The Best Help We Can Give

A man found a butterfly cocoon. One day a small opening appeared and the man watched the butterfly as it struggled to force its body through the small hole. It appeared that it had gotten as far as it could and could go no farther. The man decided to help the butterfly, so he got a pair of scissors and snipped off the remanding bit of the cocoon.The butterfly then emerged easily, but with a swollen body and tiny, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly, expecting that at any moment the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened. In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shivered wings, never able to fly.

What the man had not understood was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were nature's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved freedom from the cocoon.

Some struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If nature allowed us to go through life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as we might otherwise be.

And we could never fly...

-Author unknown