My resolve to start putting my thoughts from the beginning of 2012 takes shape with a nice story that I happened to receive. An old one but a lot of lessons for us. Credit for the story goes to the author and the picture used to the rights holder (in case the owner feels it is in violation, I am only glad to take it off this blog)
A couple of incidents recently prompts me to reproduce a beautiful story that I happen to know. One of them is the blog entry by a fellow esatsangi (another blog spot of mine) titled Hurdles. I was also in conversation with a fellow esatsangi regarding some problems in that person’s life and in trying to help that person, I was warned by my wife and sister that I am actually crippling and not really helping this person in overcoming the situation. I sincerely hope this person or anyone who feels that help is not forthcoming reads this story which I also hope would act as a gentle reminder that struggles are not always bad in life. Smooth sailing may be crippler.
Read on…
There was this person – very gentle, kind-hearted soul. He was a nature lover and appreciated all good things that the Divine bestowed for us humans to enjoy. He cultivated a nice garden around his home, which also served as home to a lot of flowers, plants and all other such things that were a feast for a nature lover cum connoisseur’s eyes. Naturally it also served as a feeding and breeding ground for another of nature’s gift to mankind – the butterflies.
One day, he found a cocoon in his garden. And the keen enthusiast in him eagerly observed the developments. He saw a tiny opening on the cocoon and watched the butterfly wriggling and struggling to get out through it. Hours went by and this butterfly never seem to give up its seemingly futile struggle to emerge out of the cocoon. It went out as much as it could and suddenly it appeared to this person that it has gotten as far as it could and could not emerge out any further. It pained this person no ends, to see a fellow living being struggling and unable to take wings and add to the nature’s splendour. He then decided to help this butterfly.
He took a scissor, cut open the rest of the cocoon. The butterfly emerged out easily. Wow…a good deed done by this kind-hearted soul.
He then tracked the progress of this being whom he had delivered to the world. Something however looked amiss. The body of the butterfly was swollen and wings shrivelled. He eagerly continued his vigil waiting for the wings to develop strong enough for it to support the body weight and take flight. But alas! it was not to be. He found that this butterfly crawled rest of it life with the large swollen body and under-developed wings. It never could fly 😦
Nature designs every system in this world with a purpose, what this person in haste did not realize was that the tiny apperture on the cocoon is the nature’s way for forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly (pupa stage) into its wings so that it is ready for fly once it emerges out of the cocoon.
Struggles are divine’s design for us for our own growth. If everything life were made smooth that would cripple us. We would not be as strong and not only that, WE MAY NEVER FLY!!!
ensures 