There is an anticipation that comes when a butterfly is waiting to break out of the chrysalis. It is hanging there motionless and quiet. All the while there are a million little changes happening. Wings are developing. Parts are changing. Sometimes I think this planet was given these creatures not only for their beauty but for the symbolism they contain. I realize they are food as well and play their parts in the great cycle of life. But for a bit they are a complete mystery. A miracle. An inspiration.
I believe we as humans should treat ourselves the same way. We can be caterpillars for quite some time. We can wiggle on leaves and eat our way through the foliage. We can plug along slowly but surely. But there comes a time when that is no longer enough. We know something is stirring within us. The process is a mystery...the unknown is somewhat scary. But like the caterpillar knows it is time to find a safe place to hang...the spirit knows something else is coming. Now it is about development. Growth. Change. It is about taking one thing and making it completely different. It is in this change that the most beautiful thing can happen. The butterfly doesn't necessarily decide on all of the changes but it knows what it must do to facilitate them. It has to fatten up with milkweed. It has to find a safe place to be. It has to climb to a high point and fasten itself to a trusted leaf. Then comes the chrysalis and it is now at the mercy of the elements with nothing more than the ability to fend off the predator with a mere little shaking of its home. When it is ready it will emerge. It will happen. It is just a matter of when. Each day it is a little less caterpillar and a little more butterfly.
I find myself changing each day. I consciously make different decisions. Sure, there are moments that are tricky as I try to loosen the velcro that has held me where I've always been...but I pull. I push. I twist. I maneuver. If it didn't work before I know it won't work NOW and I adapt. Simply wanting something isn't enough....we have to prove to the universe that we deserve it. The caterpillar does the work that it needs to and then the beauty can happen. Like the butterfly who is changing a little each day...I, too, am changing. A little more the me I want to be and a little less the person that I want to let go. All the while my heart will be the one thing that remains pure and true just like the butterfly.
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