The Butterfly

A little boy discovered a cocoon of a butterfly one day as a small opening appeared. He sat mesmerized and watched the cocoon and the emerging butterfly for several hours. The butterfly struggled to move its body through the very little hole, until it stopped making any progress and looked like it was stuck. 

So, the boy decided to help the butterfly.  He applied a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of cocoon.  The butterfly then emerged with ease, and yet it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.  The boy did not think anything of his seemingly helpful action, and he sat there waiting expectantly for the wings to unfurl into their colorful brightness and lightness. 

However, that did not happen.

The butterfly spent the rest of its life unable to fly, only able to crawl with its deformed wings and swollen body. 

Despite the kind heart of the of the little boy, he did not understand the restricting cocoon and the struggle needed by the butterfly to get itself through the opening were Nature’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings to optimally prepare it for flying once it liberated itself from the cocoon.

Consider, our struggles in life develop our strengths.  Without struggles, we cannot become stronger and grow into all we are gifted to be.  It is important to tackle the many challenges of life on our own without relying on immediate help from others.