THE LESSON OF THE BUTTERFLY We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” ~Maya Angelou Sometimes growth can be difficult. But struggling is an important part of any growth experience. In fact, it is the struggle that creates who you are and gives you the ability to become the best version of you. While going through a major transition in my own life, I came across this beautiful story of the butterfly. One day, a young girl was playing in her grandmother’s garden when she noticed some caterpillar’s cocoons that were getting ready to open and become a butterfly. She watched the first one trying to come out of its home. It struggled and took a long time. By the time the butterfly got out, it was exhausted. It had to lay on the tree branch and rest awhile before it could take flight. The little girl felt so terrible for the little butterfly, who had to go through so much of a struggle just to get out of his little cocoon. When the little girl saw the second cocoon getting ready to hatch, she didn’t want it to go through what the first butterfly did. So she helped open the cocoon herself, and took the butterfly out. She laid him on the branch and saved him from the struggle. But the second little butterfly came out with a swollen body and small, shriveled wings, and could not fly, while the first little butterfly who had fought so hard took off into the sky. Distraught, the little girl ran to her grandmother, crying. “What happened? Why didn’t the second butterfly fly?” she asked. Her grandmother explained that butterflies have a liquid in the core of their body, and as they struggle to get out of the cocoon that liquid is pushed into the veins in the butterfly wings where it hardens and makes the wings strong. The struggle to get out of the cocoon strengthens the butterfly’s wings. “Without the struggle, there are no wings,” Grandmother said as she stroked her granddaughter’s hair to comfort her. During my own struggle, I found myself living in fear, afraid of change because uncertainty is uncomfortable. It was during this time that I learned to embrace the hard lessons, because without those, we cannot continue to move forward. There is great joy in the journey if we just allow it. You will make mistakes, just learn from them, so you can grow. The lesson of the butterfly is letting go of the past and move forward to experience something new and wonderful. We all transform through multiple stages in life. We endure the growth pattern, many times without realizing our own strengths. If you ever feel overwhelmed, lonely, or out of place, remember a season of loneliness and isolation is when the caterpillar gets its wings. The butterfly does not look back at the caterpillar in shame, just as you should not look back at your past in shame. Your past was part of your own transformation. Paula Enloe is a wife, mother, and grandmother. She has been a paralegal for over 25 years and is a certified family mediator. She and her husband, Noble, speak and minister to churches testifying of how God brought them healing into their home and their marriage, after he was diagnosed with Stage IV Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2016. They count it as their greatest privilege to share the healing and transformational power of the Name of Jesus to each person they come in contact with daily.
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