Once upon a time in a land far, far away there was a
wonderful man
who loved everything. Animals, spiders, insects....
One day while walking through the woods the nice man found a cocoon.
Feeling lonely he decided to take the cocoon home to watch its
beautiful transformation from a funny little cocoon to a beautiful
butterfly.
He gently placed the cocoon on his kitchen table, and watched over it
for days. Suddenly on the seventh day the cocoon started to move. It
moved frantically! The old man felt sorry for the little butterfly
inside the cocoon. He watched it struggle and struggle and struggle!
Finally, the old man feeling so sorry for the cocooned butterfly
rushed to its aide with a small knife and gently slit the cocoon so
the butterfly could emerge. Just one slice was all it took, and the
butterfly broke free from it's cocoon only to wilt over in a
completely motionless state.
The old man did not know what to think. Had he accidentally killed
the little butterfly? No, its still moving a little bit! maybe its
sick! Who the heck would know! he was dumbfounded, and quite
perplexed! "What should I do," he said. Well he felt so sorry for the
little creature that he decided the best thing he could do for the
butterfly was to place it gently back into its cocoon.
He did so, and placed a drop of honey on it to seal the cocoon,
leaving the butterfly to nestle in its natural state.
The next day he noticed that the cocoon was moving again. "Wow," he
said! It moved and moved and struggled and struggled. Finally the
butterfly broke free from its cocoon and stretched its wings out far
and wide. Big time yawn! It's beautiful wings were filled with
wonderful colors! It looked around and took off! it was flying! Its
so beautiful! The old man was jumping for joy! Wow! Go Baby, Go! And
that wonderful butterfly did just that, it flew and flew till it was
almost out of the old mans sight.
What a joy, he exclaimed! But then he started to think. What did I do
wrong by trying to help that beautiful little butterfly out at first?
The old man went into town. Found the library, and read every book he
could on butterflies and cocoons.
Finally the answer appeared. The butterfly has to struggle and
struggle while inside the cocoon. That's how it gets its strength.
That's just what they are designed to overcome in order to be strong
and beautiful.
Needless to say the old man was shocked, saddened, and somewhat
relieved.
Now he knows the reason why they do what they do. It was only his
perception that it appeared that the butterfly was having a hard time.
From then on the old man knew that loving something sometimes
means having faith in it and leaving it alone!
He realized that life was wonderful, and that sometimes appearances
aren't what they seem to be. That we all are beautiful butterflies,
and we must also struggle to leave our cocoons and comfort zones to
grow......
