We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.
Maya Angelou

What wisdom in such marvelous words! The butterfly is such a wonderful creature, gently flapping its wings and floating through the air. But the butterfly did not achieve its beauty easily.

First it was a caterpillar, long and unsightly, crawling on the ground. Then, when the time was right, it spun a cocoon; wrapping itself up in darkness. Amazingly, it is in the darkness that transformation occurred. One day the butterfly squeezed its way out of the cocoon. It lay exhausted for a while, regaining its strength. Then, when it’s wings were dry, it took off and flew into the sky on its way to colorful flowers for food.

But did you know that if you break the cocoon to make it easy for a butterfly to get out, it will die? As the butterfly struggles to get out of the cocoon, the water is forced from its wings, making them light and flexible.

How like the butterfly are we! We cry and weep when things are hard. But we often fail to see the lessons we must learn and that we come through difficult times stronger, wiser and more flexible. If only we allow ourselves to live in the cocoon and wait for the transformation. Then we, too, can be as beautiful and free as a butterfly.