A boy helping his dad in the yard noticed a cocoon on a tree with a small hole in it and something squirming around inside. At first the boy was excited, a butterfly! But soon he became concerned. The butterfly was struggling so hard to get out! It looked like it couldn’t break free! It looked desperate and like it was making no progress!
The boy was so concerned he decided to help. Taking out his pocketknife he carefully cut the cocoon making the hole bigger and the butterfly quickly emerged!
As the butterfly came out the boy was surprised. It had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. He continued to watch the butterfly expecting that, at any moment, the wings would dry out, enlarge and expand to support the swollen body. He also knew, that in time, the body would shrink.
But neither happened!
The butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings, never able to fly.
As the boy tried to figure out what had gone wrong his mom took him to talk to a scientist at a local college. He learned that the butterfly was SUPPOSED to struggle. In fact, the butterfly’s struggle to push its way through the tiny opening of the cocoon pushes the fluid out of its body and into and expanding its wings. Without the struggle, the butterfly would never, ever fly. The boy’s good intentions had hurt, not helped, the butterfly.
As you go through school, and life, keep in mind that struggling is an important part of any growth experience. In fact, it is the struggle that causes you to develop your ability to fly.
As leaders, our gift to you is stronger wings…
