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.
Picture from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidyuweb/4736981359/
I find that many parents and teachers try to sheild and protect children. I feel children need to be allowed to work out their own solutions and make their own decissions. Guidence is sometimes needed but they need to work through difficut tmes.
ReplyDeletei agree- as parents and educators we need to find a balance between instruction and inquiry/discovery.
ReplyDeletechildren learn so much from unstructured time and play. they learn important skills, like negotiation, when they are left to work issues out on their own.
I love this story and have used it as an example of why we must go through the rough patches in life.
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