The Butterfly

So I heard once the story of a man who was walking along a path through the woods one day. He came upon a certain bush. It was a milkweed bush. Now in the area where I live, milkweed is quite common. In fact, my mother once told me that when she was young during the Second World War, people were actually paid money to collect the pods of this common weed. The silk that made up the interior was used by the military to produce the thread for the parachutes. It was also noted that this particular weed seemed to be the favorite of the caterpillar that would turn into a Monarch butterfly.



Anyway, back to the story. This man who came across the milkweed plant noticed a cocoon attached. This would be the cocoon of the Monarch butterfly. As he was observing this cocoon, he noticed it began to move. Very soon, he saw a small opening being made through which the Monarch butterfly would be able to escape.


This man, a patient man, decided to sit and watch this miracle unfolding before his very eyes. He had never seen this as it was happening before, and he found the process fascinating. And so he sat, and he sat. Slowly the hole became larger and larger. And then he could see the Monarch butterfly begin to come crawling out from the cocoon.


Then nothing happened. The Monarch butterfly was only about a third of the way out when it seemed to be stuck, as if he couldn’t get completely free from the cocoon. This man had a heart, and decided he would offer his assistance to the Monarch by tearing the cocoon open just a little bit more.


Sure enough, as soon as he opened it up, the Monarch came crawling out of the cocoon. It was completely free now, and it took a few steps in freedom. The butterfly’s body looked to be a bit oversized and the legs seemed very wobbly and unsure. Then the Monarch just stopped. His wings never did open up and he sat there for what seemed to be an eternity.


The man then realized that the Monarch butterfly had died. What the man did not realize is that the nature of this process was interrupted by him. A butterfly makes a small hole in the cocoon just big enough to crawl through, but not without a struggle. This struggle serves a very important purpose for the butterfly.


Inside the cocoon, the butterfly’s wings are folded up tightly, and they are full of fluid. When the butterfly begins to force itself through the small opening in the cocoon, the fluid inside its wings is then squeezed out. This takes some time to do. Once free from the cocoon, the butterfly then opens its wings to dry a bit in the sun, and it is able to fly away to do butterfly things.


Well, by tearing open the hole, this man never gave this butterfly the opportunity to drain its wings of this fluid. Without being properly drained, the wings could not be opened and it would never fly, and with this, it died.


There are many examples in nature where what we may perceive as an unnecessary struggle serves a very important purpose. It is not always wise to step in and “lend a hand” when doing so may not be in the grand plan. Everything in nature does serve a purpose. Because we don’t understand this purpose does not make it unnecessary.


Or to look at this from another perspective, if I am struggling dearly with some issue in my life, I may want to consider a purpose for my struggle before I jump for help. The lessons of life can sometimes be difficult to swallow. If we are granted things without the least bit of struggle, we often do not value them.


I’m certainly not advocating masochism. What I am saying is that it may be wise to think for a good while before deciding to complain. If you are suffering, there is a reason. Of this you can be sure. Of the true reason you may not be aware. The universe is not unjust. It is totally fair, loving, and kind. The universe supports you in all you do, even when you are only hurting yourself.


I know this may sound not so loving and kind, but if that be the case, think it over well. What it means is that you have complete and total freedom to act as you please, and the universe is ALWAYS there to provide you with the corresponding result.


Everything begins with the energy of your thoughts. Make them as you wish to experience in your desired results. Forget about your present experience with the understanding that what you are now experiencing is not a reason for cause, but the result of earlier less enlightened thought processes.


The present had to come from somewhere. It came from the past. Your circumstance is an outside manifestation. This manifestation had to come from somewhere. It came from the same source all manifestation of your circumstance has come, from you. Your thinking is creation in the form of energy. Focused energy manifests in the physical.


Choose your thoughts wisely that they reflect ONLY your ideal. Focus on these new thoughts, and they will become manifest. Manifest by design Now.



To your Infinite Abundance,

Jeffrey Brandt

Author of Close Your Eyes to Find Your Way: A Guide to Discovering Your Higher Self.









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