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 bit of the cocoon. The butterfly emerged easily, but it had a swollen body and shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch it, expecting that at any moment 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 it would be ready for flight once that was achieved.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lifes. Going through life with no obstacles would cripple us. We would not be as strong as we could have been. And we could never fly.

Author unknown