WORDS OF WISDOM: LEAVING THE MOTH TO DO THE WORK

A man found a cocoon of an emperor moth and took it home to watch the moth emerge. One day, a small opening appeared in the cocoon and he watched as the moth struggled to force its body through that tiny hole.

After several hours though, it seemed to stop making progress, as if it had got as far as it could and could go no further.

It was stuck.

Then, the man decided to help the moth, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of cocoon. This allowed the moth to emerge easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shrivelled wings.

While the man continued to watch the moth, expecting its wings to enlarge and expand at any moment to be able to support its body, this never happened.

The little moth spent the rest of it’s life crawling around with a swollen body and shrivelled wings.

It was never able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the moth to get through the opening were nature’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the moth into its wings, so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Freedom and flight could come only after the struggle.

By depriving the moth of a struggle, he deprived the moth of health.

How many times have we wanted to take the quick way out of struggles, to take scissors and snip off our difficulties in order to be free of them?

How many times have we wanted to do this for our kids, loved ones and collegues?

We need to remember, however, that it is through our trials and struggles that we are stregthened, for it is in these things that we learn the lessons that we need to in life.

YOUR FUTURE STARTS NOW.

This is Joanne’s story…

Joanne, a photographer, always had money problems.

She tended to make promises in her business she couldn’t keep, and her unhappy clients would refuse to pay her. Joanne would then borrow from family and friends, but be unable to repay her debts. She often resorted to lying and cheating to get by.

I never officially worked with Joanne as a client, so I could only watch from the sidelines, so what I saw was remarkable.

One day, she decided to get her life in order.

She did so in very small steps, fighting her natural tendancies all the way.

Despite her effort to arrive on time, be diligent about her work, and finally open a bank account to keep track of her money, life soon began to test her resolve.

Joanne lost her wallet and had to chase down all the pieces of her life.

She got kicked out of her flat for her previous habits of not paying rent and had to move in with a friend.

Many people were sick of her antics and did not believe she had changed.

Although they turned their backs on her, she did not falter. She worked to save money and contribute to her friend’s household expenses.

She had finally decided to deal with what was true in her life and grow from it instead of dishonouring herself by avoiding it.

After a year, Joanne rented her own living space and began to see her reputation as a photographer rise again.

She mended some of her old friendships and paid off her debts. It took a few more years before she felt on top of her finances and began to breathe easily again.

Even though she would be the first to tell you that she would have been heading for disaster if she had not decided to face reality, she is grateful for the accomplishment of being able to say she turned her own life around.

Joanne did this by admitting the truth and doing the work to turn around what she had done step by little step.

To escape from the whirlwind that had became her life, she had to lower her expectations and make her focus very narrow and simple. In effect, she made a personal manifesto and it began with keeping her word.

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