The Struggles of the Butterfly and Man’s Journey

The struggles of the butterfly are quite similar to man’s journey. In terms of appearance, the butterfly undergoes a dramatic change. Equally, man experiences change, not only in appearance but also in perspective.

The story of the struggles of the butterfly to complete its transformation teaches us a valuable lesson. Change is constant, as most people say. There are things in life we cannot control. For example, one may feel compelled to change for personal growth or a sudden change in a person’s viewpoint due to circumstances. In other times, there is a need to change one’s physical appearance too. Change happens every day and to everyone at any given time.

For these changes, our reactions vary. If the transformation that takes place is positive, then we tend to embrace it readily. But what if we have to struggle first before reaching our destination? Are we willing to accept it right away? We know that as we go through life, problems are unavoidable. The challenges one has to endure are not easy, but we still have to go through them no matter what.

Have you ever heard the butterfly story before? I hope this story inspires you.

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 squeeze its body through the tiny hole. Then, it stopped as if it couldn’t go further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bits of cocoon. The butterfly emerged easily, but it had a swollen body and shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch it, expecting that any minute the wings would enlarge and expand enough to support the body, but none happened.

The butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around. It was never able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand: The restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the opening was a way of forcing the fluid from the body into the wings so that it would be ready for flight once that was achieved.

In this world, all of us are butterflies. Without struggles, the butterfly was unable to fly. It just crawled all through its life. The challenges the butterfly has to go through were supposed to help it become a beautiful butterfly. But it takes time to achieve that stage. Though the change that the butterfly undergoes is not easy, it has to go through the process. Unfortunately, the man unintentionally hurt the butterfly. 

Remember that struggles are part of our preparation for a better life. The imperfections we experience are important factors for our growth. It is indeed impossible to go through life without facing obstacles, be it trivial or not. That is reality. These are tests we need to surpass. God knows that our faith and strength are strong enough to get through it all. 

As Bob Dylan said, “Behind every beautiful thing, there is some kind of pain.” The butterfly undergoes metamorphosis, the needed change that is the same as ours. Every change may not be easy, but we should embrace it and believe that we can make it through. Giving up is never an option. If we give up, we lose without even having tried at all. In life, struggles strengthen us so that we can continue our journey and achieve our goals.

Furthermore, we should believe that whatever problems we have right now, we can solve them. Life is a journey that must be traveled no matter how bad the roads and accommodations are. Sometimes there are bumps and cracks, but we must keep going. Problems in life are minor setbacks. These are reminders for us to be a little cautious along the way so that we do not forget to plan our actions and discern well to know the right thing to do. We must turn these problems into stepping stones that will eventually lead us to our beautiful destination. 

Moreover, the difficulties we experience are what push us to accomplish more and dream more. Without these complications, we would not have known our real strength. For every storm we encounter, we have the chance to be the best version of ourselves. When faced with problems, we have the opportunity to prove that we can solve them and learn valuable lessons as well. We have the opportunity to spread our wings and fly.

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