The Man and the Butterfly

A man found a 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 the little hole. Then it seemed to stop

making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far

as it could and it could not go any farther.

The man decided to help the butterfly, he took a pair of

scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon.

The butterfly them emerged easily,  but it had a swollen body

and small shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected

that 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 went through 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.  

~Author Unknown