The Cocoon

A man found a cocoon of an emperor moth. He took it home so he could observe the moth come out of the cocoon. On the day a small opening appeared, he watched for several hours as it struggled to force its body through a little hole. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could go. The man, in his kindness, decided to help the moth. With a pair of scissors he snipped off the remaining cocoon. The moth then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch. He expected the wings to enlarge and expand to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the little moth spent 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 required for the moth to get through the tiny opening were a 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 would only come after the struggle. By depriving the moth of a struggle, he deprived it of health. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need. If we go through life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we really are.