beauty from struggles

glass winged butterfly

The story of the butterfly

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to squeeze its body through the tiny hole.Then it stopped, as if it couldn't go further.
So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bits of cocoon. The butterfly emerged easily but it had a swollen body and shriveled wings.
The man continued to watch it,expecting that any minute the wings would enlarge and expand enough to support the body, Neither happened! In fact the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around. It was never able to fly.
What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand:The restricting cocoon and the struggle required by the butterfly to get through the opening was a way of forcing the fluid from the body into the wings so that it would be ready for flight once that was achieved.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. Going through life with no obstacles would cripple us.We will not be as strong as we could have been and we would never fly

~unknown

I asked for strength, And God gave me difficulties to make me strong;
I asked for wisdom, And God gave me problems to learn to solve;
I asked for prosperity, And God gave me brain and brawn to work;
I asked for courage, And God gave me dangers to overcome;
I asked for love, And God gave me people to help;
I asked for favours, And God gave me opportunities.
I received nothing I wanted - I received everything I needed.

~ Azriela Jaffe

(i received the picture in an email yesterday, from a dear friend

and happened to see these poems this morning in a frame

at jessamyn's house....

a gifting from cassie quite a few years ago)