Lifes Obstacles and Butterfly Wings
Butterfly Wings
One day a man came upon a cocoon of a butterfly. He saw the butterfly struggling to force its body through a small opening in the cocoon. After several hours it seemed that the butterfly stopped making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could not go any further. To be helpful, the man took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon.
The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected 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 shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.
The man in his kindness and haste did not understand – The struggle for the butterfly to go through the tiny opening in the restricting cocoon is nature’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings. This way it would be ready for flight once freed from the cocoon.
(I have paraphrased the above story by an unknown author)
Lifes Obstacles
As you can see the struggles we face are often exactly what we need to grow. Overcoming life’s obstacles make us stronger and wiser than we would be without them.
Imagine for one minute where would you be right now if you never faced obstacles?
Wouldn’t it be a crippling experience? You wouldn’t have the same beliefs, morals and values that you have. You would not be as mentally strong. You would not have had your chance to spread your wings and fly.
People often tell my how sorry they are that I’ve had to deal with so many struggles during my life.
My reply: I wouldn’t be ME if I didn’t live through all that I’ve endured. It’s made me stronger. It’s made me responsible. It’s made me go after a better life for myself and my family. It’s made me love. It’s made me accept people exactly where they are in their lives. And most of all it’s enabled me to help others.
So the next time you’re facing life’s obstacles – stop and think for a minute. Don’t take the scissors to make it easy to get out of your situation. Learn what you need to learn. Grow. Know that you’re not the first person to endure it and you won’t be the last. With each passing struggle, you’ll fly higher and higher.
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[tags]Obstacles, Struggle, Challenges[/tags]
