A little boy
moved into a new town. His parents bought a nice independent house in this
small town. The boy loved spending most of his
time in the nice garden in backyard of his house. This was maintained by
a wise old Gardner who also worked for the previous owners. The boy would spend
hours together looking at flowers and bees.
One morning, as
the boy moved around the plants, he observed something fascinating. A cocoon
was opening up and a caterpillar was transforming into a butterfly. He stood
transfixed there watching the transformation. It was a painful process and at a
point the boy could no longer withstand it. He bent forward and helped the
butterfly to come out. He cracked open the cocoon only slightly so that the
butterfly could come out easily. But alas! what came out was a crippled
butterfly with wings not fully developed.
Crestfallen, the
little boy walked up to the Gardner and told him the entire episode. The wise
old man smiled and said ,"when a butterfly comes out of a cocoon it is
extremely painful for the butterfly. But the effort it takes to wriggle out of
cocoon also ensures that butterfly builds enough strength in its body and wings
to live a healthy life. If you crack the cocoon, you are actually depriving the
butterfly an opportunity to build its life support system. I know a butterfly
looks very delicate but you need to trust it."
We reach out to
people when we see them in their struggle. If we reach out to be with them, it
may help but we reach out with our own solutions so that they can quickly come
out of the problem. Many a times what people facing problems need, is
confidence and trust so that they come out of their own cocoon. They not only
figure out a solution but also figure out how to solve the problem!
I know it is
tempting to help but please remember "help can harm"
No comments:
Post a Comment