I was asked why butterflies....this answer is easy....long but easy! There are two reasons....
A) After my father died when I was 24 years old. I went to his grave later and sat there uncontrollably sobbing. I wanted him to just hug me and tell me everything was going to be okay...like he always had! It fluttered around and landed on his grave stone so gentle and fragile and beautiful. I found co
mfort in watching him move his wings so gracefully and angelic. It stayed until I was calm enough to leave. I found peace in this frail, delicate little creature. I know you are going to think I am crazy, but I felt like it was going to be okay. As I walked away still watching him...he took off in flight. It seemed to disappear into the heavens! I feel like my father was there with me. He knew I needed him, he sent the butterfly to comfort me. Since that day I have always found such a comforting peace and joy in watching butterflies…they bring a smile to my heart! B) Years later, married with kids. We had one of those moments when life got hard, I mean really really hard. Those times when you can not see any light at the end of the tunnel, when you are not even sure you are in the right tunnel! LOL – A very very dear friend hand wrote me a letter with this story about struggles and how you have to work your way through them! Once again butterflies came into my life to comfort me!~ I embraced the story and my challenges! This little story changed my entire perspective on life and the trials and tribulations life hands us! It now hangs in my office. I will share…..here is the story....
Struggle is Good! Once a little boy was playing outdoors and found a fascinating caterpillar. He carefully picked it up and took it home to show his mother. He asked his mother if he could keep it, and she said he could if he would take good care of it. The little boy got a large jar from his mother and put plants to eat, and a stick to climb on, in the jar. Every day he watched the caterpillar and brought it new plants to eat. One day the caterpillar climbed up the stick and started acting strangely. The boy worriedly called his mother who came and understood that the caterpillar was creating a cocoon. The mother explained to the boy how the caterpillar was going to go through a metamorphosis and become a butterfly. The little boy was thrilled to hear about the changes his caterpillar would go through. He watched every day, waiting for the butterfly to emerge. One day it happened, a small hole appeared in the cocoon and the butterfly started to struggle to come out. At first the boy was excited, but soon he became concerned. The butterfly was struggling so hard to get out! It looked like it couldn’t break free! It looked desperate! It looked like it was making no progress! The boy was so concerned he decided to help. He ran to get scissors, and then walked back (because he had learned not to run with scissors…). He snipped the cocoon to make the hole bigger and the butterfly quickly emerged! As the butterfly came out the boy was surprised. It had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. He continued to watch the butterfly expecting that, at any moment, the wings would dry out, enlarge and expand to support the swollen body. He knew that in time the body would shrink and the butterfly’s wings would expand. But neither happened! The butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly…
As the boy tried to figure out what had gone wrong his mother took him to talk to a scientist from a local college. He learned that the butterfly was SUPPOSED to struggle. In fact, the butterfly’s struggle to push its way through the tiny opening of the cocoon pushes the fluid out of its body and into its wings. Without the struggle, the butterfly would never, ever fly. The boy’s good intentions hurt the butterfly. As you go through school, and life, keep in mind that struggling is an important part of any growth experience. In fact, it is the struggle that causes you to develop your ability to fly. The struggles makes your wings stronger so when the time is right you can fly!!!
