the man and the butterfly

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly, and he brought it home. One day, a small opening appeared in the cocoon.
The man sat and watched the cocoon for several hours as the butterfly struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making progress. It appeared as if the butterfly had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no farther.

The man decided to help the butterfly in its struggle. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the co coon...

and the butterfly emerged easily.

As the butterfly emerged, the man was surprised. It had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. He continued to watch the butterfly expectating that, at any moment, the wings would dry out, enlarge, and expand to support the swollen body. He knew that in time the body would contract, and the butterfly would be able to fly...

but neither happened!

In fact, the butterfly spend the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle were required for the butterfly to be able to fly.

The butterfly must push its way through the tiny opening to force the fluid from its body and wings. Only by struggling through the opening can the butterfly's wings be ready for flight once it emerges from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If our Higher Power allowed us to go through life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been... and we could never fly!

Spread your wings and prepare to fly,
For you have become a butterfly...
Fly abandonedly into the sun!

Wow, Great story. Reminds me of co-dependency.
You may Think that you are helping, but you are not.

I have a question, I need help with.

Regarding people on the streets asking for handouts.
If I give money to a person, they go out and buy liquor, has a horrible accident and gets hurt or even dies, is it my fault?

Most the time I say no, except last night, I gave a money to a guy, when I handed him the money I noticed he reeked of alcohol, I felt I should have told him no. I did go back and gave him a few oranges, to at least, give him a little nourishment.
Linda
(-:

Thanks for the reminder
I'm really tired of all the 'squishing' though...I would like the opportunity to FLY!

Linda wrote:Wow, Great story. Reminds me of co-dependency.
You may Think that you are helping, but you are not.

I have a question, I need help with.

Regarding people on the streets asking for handouts.
If I give money to a person, they go out and buy liquor, has a horrible accident and gets hurt or even dies, is it my fault?

Most the time I say no, except last night, I gave a money to a guy, when I handed him the money I noticed he reeked of alcohol, I felt I should have told him no. I did go back and gave him a few oranges, to at least, give him a little nourishment.
Linda
(-:

and Linda,
is it your fault? NO
should you feel guilty? NO
Guilt applies when it is your INTENT for something to happen.
You are no more guilty than the person who sold him the alcohol.
His actions (the man you gave money to) are HIS. not yours.

remember--INTENT is what is important.
good idea about the oranges

The story brought me a lot more hope, struggles are needed in our lives for the sake of learning and experiencing.

Our experiences are our teachers.

It's much easier helping someone that is going through the same things you used to go through. We all have struggles, but through them we can help others through theirs, and eventually each one of us will see become much more whole.

Great Teaching & there is so much more i am overlooking, but i know this story has become a part of my life in way that i will never forget it.

Linda i think giving is never wrong, as Dreamer said it is your intent that is important. I have given many homeless people money as i was once homeless because of drugs of course, but now that i have given all that up i do give to people when i see someone that is homeless or if i am asked. Now if they lie to you and say the money is for food or for a train, and then they go and spend it on drugs or alcohol, then this decision is on them. You were trying to help, most people will lie to get drugs or alcohol. but of course you will have the very few that will be truthful about what they need the money for (Drugs or Alcohol), and in this case it would probally be better to ask them if they need some food or something to drink and buy it for them, & maybe if you feel up to it let them know that you believe in them or say something positive or very spiritual (I found this was very hard to do for me, but in time it will get easier). but be cautious and use your judgement this you cannot go wrong.

We can change the world one person at a time.

Many Blessings

It is never wrong to help people. We can help in many ways. It may be money, food ,transportation a kind word , good advice. No matter what we give or what they do with it, i believe all of them get something more than monetary value. I believe when we give from our hearts we are helping both spiritually and physically.Never stop giving. Who knows ; one thing we do may change someones life forever.

Thank you all for your advice. I don't know where I got the idea that It would be my fault if someone got hurt because of the money that I gave them. I vow to be more charitable now that I know. There are also times I said no, only because I did not feel comfortable opening my purse and digging for money, and I still won't if I don't Feel right.
But food I have had no problem sharing, I will continue to give anyone who needs something to eat or drink. I too know what it is like to be homeless, and actually lived out of my car for over a month. (I know I was lucky to have a car to sleep in). So thank You again, your sister at heart, Linda (-: