Life Struggles

A man found a cocoon of an emperor moth. He took it home to watch the moth hatch. On that day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the moth struggle for several hours to force its body through the tiny hole. Then the moth stopped as if it had gotten as far as it could and could go no further.

The man in his kindness decided to help, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of cocoon. The moth emerged easily, but it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the moth expecting, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to help support its body. Neither happened and the little moth spent the rest of its short life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled legs. It was never able to fly.

The man in his kindness and haste did not understand that struggling to get out of the cocoon was the only way to force fluid from the body into the moth’s wings. Freedom and flight would only come after the struggle. By depriving the moth of a struggle, the man deprived the moth of life.

Sometime struggle is exactly what we need in life. Give every struggle a chance. Learn what you need to, so you emerge a better person on the other side.