Why Butterflies?

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” - Maya Angelou

I have always thought of the lifecycle of the butterfly as a metaphor for life. We all have the potential to become the beautiful butterfly we carry in our hearts, if we are allowed to grow and develop through life’s challenges. It is those life challenges that help to shape us and unfold our wings so that we can soar high into the bright blue sky. Here is a powerful story about one such butterfly.

The Butterfly

A man found the cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. 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. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and could go no further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He 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.

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 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. And we could never fly. So have a nice day and struggle a little.

Author Unknown

We need to do the hard work of breaking free of our cocoons, but it doesn’t mean we can’t reach out for guidance as we work on the challenges that bind our wings. It doesn’t mean that we are weak, or that we will emerge from our cocoons with shriveled wings because someone is guiding us, but it does mean that in order to make positive changes in our lives, we need to look deep inside ourselves to find our strength, courage, wisdom and power so that we can break free and celebrate the the gifts that are naturally inside each and every one of us. To really see who we are and what is important to us, sometimes we need someone to be our mirror and to reflect back the amazingness that we bring to the world with our uniqueness and our passions. I would love to be that mirror for you and to accompany you on your journey of self discovery and growth as you work to free your beautiful wings and soar! Life is short, don’t wait to set yourself free!