The Birth of a Butterfly…

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly.

One day a small opening in the cocoon 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 it 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, was forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings, so it was ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

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I liked this story, because it reminded me of how I became an ex-smoker. The start was easy, but then there were some moments when I felt like I couldn’t go any further, they never lasted long and I continued my journey.

Regardless if we want to give up smoking, drinking or want to live a life without drugs…lets remember “the birth of a butterfly” if we feel like giving up.

People can support us and cheer for us on at the sidelines, but we have to do the work…it’s all up to us!

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives, so that we can grow.  Maybe going through life without any obstacles would cripple us and we would not be as strong…and we would never fly!

I feel like I became a butterfly and so can you…let’s fly together!