The Transformation of Life

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day, a small opening appeared. He sat for hours watching the cocoon as the butterfly inside struggled to squeeze its body through. Then it stopped, as if it couldn’t go any further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took his pocket knife, and sniffed off to widen the opening of the cocoon as he proclaimed “You are free.” The butterfly emerged easily, but it had a swollen body and shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch it, expecting that any minute now the wings would expand and enlarge enough to support the body and fly. It never happened! In fact the butterfly fell to the ground and started crawling. It was never able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand that - the restricting cocoon and the struggle required by the butterfly to get through the opening was the key to forcing the fluid from its body to the wings. It is part of its journey to become a butterfly.

Often times struggle is exactly what we need in our lives. Going through life without any obstacles would cripple us. We will not be as strong, and we would never learn to fly on our own.