I remember hearing this story many years ago, though I cannot remember who told it or wrote it, so my apologies for the lack of attribution….it remains a very powerful and telling story for me and a great reminder that when things seem really tough, don’t give in and try and shortcut things, or give up altogether….instead stick things out and have faith that at the end of every struggle we develop the wings we need to fly.
A man found a cocoon of a butterfly.
He checked that cocoon every day on passing. One day a small opening appeared, so he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole.
Then it seemed to stop making any progress at all.
It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no further. So then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily and was free. But he noticed that it had a swollen body and small, shrivelled 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.
However – neither happened !!
In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shrivelled wings.
It never was 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 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 its freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life.
If nature allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. And we could never fly.
All the best to you and your emerging wings….
Dr Nat xx