Sunday, November 9, 2008

The Butterfly’s Struggle

One day a man found a cocoon of a butterfly.

As the small opening appeared, he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole.

Then something happened

It suddenly seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and could go no further. Hence, then the man decided to help the butterfly.

He took a pair of scissors and cut the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily.

But something was strange.

The butterfly had a swollen body and shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.

However, neither happened.

As a matter of fact, the butterfly’s life consisted of spending the rest of its time creeping around with an enlarged, puffy body and deformed wings. In other words, it was never able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the small opening of the cocoon are 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 its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life.

In Living a Life That Matters, Harold S. Kushner (the Massachusetts rabbi whose best selling books include When Bad Things Happen to Good People) suggests that the most successful lives are the ones that most effectively manage and resolve their problems.

If the lord allowed us to go through all our life without any obstacles, that would cripple us

Besides, we could never think of shredding our fears and flying.