I am always fascinated with butterflies. Whenever i see an actual butterfly or a picture of it, i will just stare at their beauty and at the back of my mind i can imagine myself flying like them. I actually have no idea how it all started , but i have started to collect things with butterfly images, i just loved it! I am just wondering why, what with the butterflies that I am fascinated with?
The life cycle of a butterfly is called Metamorphosis and begins as an egg, which hatches into a caterpillar. The entire purpose of a caterpillar's life is to eat. After the caterpillar has eaten and stored up enough fat, it finds a safe place to transform, spins a cocoon and attaches for its transformation. The cocoon last anywhere from 2 weeks to 40 days depending on where the caterpillar lives and when food will become available for its transformed self. It is made from sticky threads of silk and the purpose is to provide protection from the environment and predators for the transforming caterpillar. Some cocoons are even created with camouflage to ensure the best possible means of hiding. While in the cocoon, the caterpillar's structures are broken down and used to build its adult structures, such as its wings. The first step of emerging into the cocoon is when the butterfly pushes his cocoon open. This action strengthens the butterfly, giving it the necessary strength it will need for survival outside of the cocoon. The butterfly then flaps its wings and takes flight for the first time to search for flowers and plants for food, shelter and egg laying.
I then remembered a butterfly story i read before:
A man found a cocoon of a butterfly, that he brought home.
One day a small opening appeared in the cocoon. He sat and watched the cocoon for several hours as the butterfly struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making progress. It appeared as if the butterfly had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further. The man decided to help the butterfly in it's struggle. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon... and the butterfly emerged easily.
As the butterfly emerged, the man was surprised. It had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. He continued to watch the butterfly expecting that, at any moment, the wings would dry out, enlarge and expand to support the swollen body. He knew that in time the body which would contract and the butterfly would be able to fly. But neither happened!
In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It was not able to fly.
What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle were required for the butterfly to be able to fly. The butterfly must push it's way through the tiny opening to force the fluid from its body and wings. Only by struggling through the opening, can the butterfly's wings be ready for flight once it emerges from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our 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.
Now i know why I love butterflies. I see my life and each other lives in them. We all have to undergo Metamorphosis , a life cycle. We all need to grow in every aspects of our lives. Some of us might be in the cocoon right now, struggling to come out of something, bad childhood memories, hurts, rejections, hopelessness, diseases, unworthiness, loneliness, emptiness, confusion ,wrong decisions, anxiety , failures and brokeness , to name a few. That is part of our life cycle. I suggest that you embrace those! In your own cocoon, you will meet people that will hurt you, will betray you and will reject you, but as time goes by, you will realize that you will not be the person you are right now without them. God gave you to them for you to practice your patience and for you to learn to forgive. Thank these situations, pray for those people that have hurt you and trust that God has a purpose for everything. In His perfect time , he will reveal the purpose of every situation and every people coming into your life.
Your cocoon will mold you and make you a better person and is an important part of your success, trust me. Never give up of yourself. As they say, success tastes much sweeter when we know what failure tasted like. It may take days, weeks or even years to come out on that bandage but God assures the Victory in the end. God promised the best miracles for us , far better than what we can imagine. You will soar and fly high! And if you reached that stage, you will feel the ultimate joy and will be thankful for your own cocoon!
When you wonder about life's obstacles, remember the struggles are needed so that we can emerge ready to fly gracefully and be a blessing to others. Believe that, with God, we will truly be transformed!
"For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a bright future"
-Jeremiah 29:11
