There was once a troubled man who had lost his love and was walking through a forest in search of answers to calm his aching heart when he suddenly came across a cocoon. He noticed a small hole in the cocoon and could see that there was movement inside. He grew curious, moved closer, and soon noticed that a butterfly was trying to free itself. Much time went by and the butterfly seemed to be making little progress in its’ attempt to get loose from inside. The small hole that it had managed to make was not getting much bigger and it seemed trapped. So the man decided to help the butterfly by making the hole larger to enable it to escape to freedom more easily.
The butterfly then plopped to the ground. The man smiled thinking that he had freed the butterfly from its’ pain and struggles. However, he soon noticed that the butterfly was not moving normally. It seemed to be limping on the ground. In fact, the butterfly had very small wings and every attempt that it made to fly was futile. It remained that way and never was able to fly freely as other butterflies do.
You see, butterflies necessarily have to struggle in order to break free from their cocoon. It is only through the struggling that the fluid in their wings can allow them to fully grow. And in this way, once they have struggled enough are they then ready to enter the world and fly freely as fully grown butterflies.
Upon realizing this important lesson the man then became determined to push forward in his own life and allow the necessary time for his heart to heal. This lesson had taught him that our struggles in life can allow us to grow more fully and discover our own ‘wings’ in life when the time is right.
Very often being patient with our struggles in life and allowing for the necessary time to pass by can lead to wonderful transformation.