Day after day, week after week, month after month do you ever ask yourself why does life offer so much struggling? The challenges and obstacles are relentless, each day your journey might take a confusing turn down a different path. I would compare some recent adventures along my journey as driving up a winding, mountain side road in a dark night with dim headlights, twisting and turning with little clarity! I want to share with you a story (source unknown) that helped me see things a bit more clear:
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..Bobby watched for several hours, as a butterfly struggled to force its body through a tiny opening of a cocoon. When it seemed that it wasn’t making any progress, that it had gotten as far as it could, he decided to help. He took a pair of scissors and carefully snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly emerged easily, but it had a swollen body and shriveled wings. Bobby continued to watch the butterfly, hoping that, at any moment, the wings would spread, and the swollen body would become normal. The butterfly never took flight. It needed to struggle and get through that tiny open. The struggle is nature’s way of forcing fluid from its little body into its wings, so that once it emerges from its cocoon, it’s ready for flight.
Lesson learned….our struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If nature allowed us to go through life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We wouldn’t be as strong as we were intended to be. And we might never fly….
Embrace your struggles, learn and grow as they are necessary steps to a stronger and healthier you!
40 users commented in " Struggles – embrace them! "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackStruggles make you learn new things and help you become a stronger person. Nice story about the butterfly!
@Talli, I agree…thanks!
Great post! No one said, life is easy.
@Rosy, no they didn’t! 🙂
Neat post! I needed the encouragement today-so thank you Mark.
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@Tipper, thanks Tipper!
We can get so caught up in the, “Why me?” sometimes that we don’t see how our struggles make us better. Thanks for this great reminder!
@Felice, Thank you!
think of how boring life would be if it was easy all the time! Life is fun when it’s unpredictable 🙂
@Annette, I agree completely! Thanks!
I’m with Annette on this one too – the challenges we face are what makes life interesting – and really, what help us to grow and become better. Nice story!
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@Lance, Thank you for your feedback!
I KNOW it’s true. I know this is true for failure too. But I still think that given the choice… I would like to cruise through life. 🙂
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@Vered, I don’t think you are alone with that thought! 🙂
Always inspirational. Thanks Mark.
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@Blake, thank you!
Great analogy and I have learned so many things the hard way and am grateful for most now as they have made me who I am today.
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@heidi, good news! Thanks for sharing.
without the struggles we would not be who we are today. I love this post M, I think that I keep hearing this whole cattapillar thing sooooo much these days! I want to embrace my challanges/struggles and let them mold me into the person I am:)
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@bobbi, our struggles are our building blocks? thank you for sharing. 🙂
Sharing some of my past and current struggles and how I healed, grew, and learned are some of my best and most popular blog posts.
I use the butterfly metaphor all the time because it’s a good reminder too of process. People are always want instant gratifiction and lack patience when it comes to journies, and the thing is that God works on his time frame not yours. Just be patient and trust and everything will turn out for the highest good of all involved 🙂
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@Stephanie Quilao, so well put, thank you for your insight and your share. 🙂
As unpleasant as they can be, struggles show you your true quality.
They also foster wisdom and confidence.
Such is the experience called “life”!
Thank you for sharing Mark.
@Christine, Well said. Thank you!
No one said life is hard or easy, it just is. The choices we make determine the way.
While struggles and obstacles make me tired and grumpy at times, I’d take them any day over a “perfect” life. Actually, I tend to be suspicious if something comes my way too easily. If I don’t have to work for my goal, it has no value to me. But maybe I’m a little weird 🙂
Words of wisdom…thanks for sharing 🙂
I agree. Life would be really boring if my kids were the sit around and coloring types.
That is a great story– both for when I’m struggling and when I’m tempted to resolve another person’s necessary struggles (with apologies to those who want me to do their homework FOR them!).
Such a good story!
That’s why a lot of times I reject help when people offer it. It’s important to struggle through on our own and make our own mistakes. That’s how we learn and grow and develop.
As I’m reading this, I’m tired and grumpy (so NOT a morning person) and listening to my 5 yr old cry his eyes out because he dropped his bubbles. I SO needed your post this morning!
Small struggles, big struggles – they all make us who we are, and our attitude as we face them goes a long way in determining the outcome.
@Dr.J, It is what is…true!
@Anya, Not weird at all!
@DC Watts, Thank you!
@Fit Mom, we don’t want boring!
@tfh, Thanks for sharing!
@Sagan, very good point! Thank you!
@cathy, it will only get better…thanks for your feedbacK!
Struggles, obstacles, challenges. Those are how we learn. Without them we would not grow.
Struggles are going to be there. Most are temporary. It’s how we respond to them that makes us. Thanks for the inspiration
@Leah, Very true!
@Dr. Hubbard, Thank you for your feedback!
Great story – I hadn’t heard that. Absolutely we need struggles. I once had someone liken adult struggles to growing pains – you hurt for a while and then one day you wake up and you’ve grown, the hurt has disappeared.
Bring on the struggle! It means I’m getting somewhere.
Lovely story. It makes me think of something my grandmother used to say “Never pray for patience or God will teach you patience” meaning you’d learn it the hard way. Well, I never prayed for it but sometimes I think I’m being taught anyway.
The bigger the struggle, the bigger the triumph, right?
Good post! Overcoming struggles helps me appreciate so much more. I don’t often see how they help me while I’m going through them. I do know I’m stronger for it after I’ve muddled past them.
This has been a cocoon kinda week for me, hoping to get wings this weekend!
@Stacey, “Bring on the struggle! It means I’m getting somewhere.” Absolutely!
@Lainie,”The bigger the struggle, the bigger the triumph, right? Yes!
@DaDiva, “Overcoming struggles helps me appreciate so much more.” Indeed!
@Tyne, Get those wings! Enjoy!
‘A ship in the harbor is safe. But, that’s not what ships are meant for.’
Courage is like a muscle, it only gets stronger the more you use it.
Great thoughts as always.
@Strong One, Nice input! Thanks!
Wow…what a story. No life is not easy but it only gets better with time.
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@Cricket, So true!
Great post, Mark. Very inspirational. Thanks!
hey mark, i heard that illustration from someone a few months back and thought about writing it down, but of course, i forgot. thanks for the reminder. we do need the struggles…not fun to go through, but what it can produced is something beautiful (but not a butterfly – i’m afraid of them)
So true — the tough stuff has helped shape me!
Thanks Mark! I hope the journey will be easier after each struggle…