The Butterfly Cocoon
One beautiful morning, a young man was taking a stroll around his garden when he noticed a cocoon of a butterfly on a leaf. He observed a small opening appearing in the cocoon and a butterfly trying to come out of it. Thrilled to see a fantastic transformation of nature, he watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through a little hole in its cocoon. After a while, the butterfly seemed to stop making any progress. It was struggling so hard to get out! It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and could go no further.
So looking at the struggle, the kind-hearted young man decided to help the butterfly. He grabbed a pair of scissors and and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. With the cocoon cut open, the butterfly no longer had to struggle and emerged easily… however… as it emerged, the man noticed it had a swollen body, and small shriveled wings…
The man was happy that he made the butterfly come out of its cocoon without much struggle. He continued to watch the butterfly expecting that, at any moment, the wings would dry out, enlarge and expand to support the swollen body, which would contract in time.
Unfortunately, neither its wings expanded nor the swollen body reduced. In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its very short life crawling around the ground with a swollen body and small wings, unable to fly.
Although with good intentions, the man hindered the growth of the butterfly. 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.
The Moral: There’s a powerful life lesson this story teaches – Our struggles always give us strength. Sometimes struggles and challenges are exactly what we need to grow in our life. Like, the struggle to get out of the cocoon gives a butterfly its beautiful wings; struggles in our life make us stronger and resilient. If we were allowed to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as we could have been. Trying to avoid struggle… taking the easy path… will only lead to a harder life… to greater struggles, later on.
So looking at the struggle, the kind-hearted young man decided to help the butterfly. He grabbed a pair of scissors and and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. With the cocoon cut open, the butterfly no longer had to struggle and emerged easily… however… as it emerged, the man noticed it had a swollen body, and small shriveled wings…
The man was happy that he made the butterfly come out of its cocoon without much struggle. He continued to watch the butterfly expecting that, at any moment, the wings would dry out, enlarge and expand to support the swollen body, which would contract in time.
Unfortunately, neither its wings expanded nor the swollen body reduced. In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its very short life crawling around the ground with a swollen body and small wings, unable to fly.
Although with good intentions, the man hindered the growth of the butterfly. 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.
The Moral: There’s a powerful life lesson this story teaches – Our struggles always give us strength. Sometimes struggles and challenges are exactly what we need to grow in our life. Like, the struggle to get out of the cocoon gives a butterfly its beautiful wings; struggles in our life make us stronger and resilient. If we were allowed to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as we could have been. Trying to avoid struggle… taking the easy path… will only lead to a harder life… to greater struggles, later on.