Metamorphosis

"Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops after birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation." source

When I was little, I loved to chase butterflies especially those with big and colorful wings. I would follow them as long as I could until they are nowhere in sight. I never had any luck in capturing any of them though.

One day, my father brought me to our farm. We had guava trees there back then and I saw a lot of big caterpillars and cocoons hanging in their branches. My father told me that those things would one day turn into beautiful butterflies. Excited and innocent as I was, I picked up the cocoons, put them in a basket and brought them home. I patiently waited for them to shed the hard silk covering their bodies. As days passed by, I noticed that the once healthy cocoons withered. They never turned into winged-fragile-insects and it made me really sad. I opened the cocoons and found nothing but dead caterpillars. :( I know, what I did was horrible and I am so sorry. T_T

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A few months (or years?) later, while playing outside, I saw something moving from a little plant. Upon inspection, I realized it was a cocoon! A tiny little butterfly was struggling hard to get out of it. I saw that its wings were still wet and it was really having a difficulty in getting its body out.

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I felt pity for the little creature so I helped it get rid of the cocoon. I carefully opened it and minutes later, the butterfly said hello to its new world. I watched closely and wondered how long would it take before it finally flaps its wings. Minutes passed, nothing happened. It just sat in the plant's leaves. I thought maybe, it was resting or waiting for its wings to dry up. As a kid, I wasn't armed with a lot of patience so I left and I didn't witness if it was able to fly.

When I finally entered school and the life cycle of a butterfly was discussed, I learned that each of them needs to get out of its cocoon by themselves. That is to allow enough "squeezing" of liquids from its body and wings for them to dry up properly. Helping them up would result to a swollen body and shriveled wings. I remembered that tiny butterfly I helped and wondered, "Was it able to fly, ever?" I felt sorry that I helped it. I didn't know it has to go through that painful process in order to become a butterfly. :(

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The same goes with people. We have to go through painful processes in order for us to get stronger. We have to get out of our invisible shell on our own. We may have encountered people who had a problem and we helped. That's okay. Helping is good. Getting help is good. We just have to keep in mind how much help we should give or seek; otherwise, the help we'll offer/ask would just do us further damage.


If you are a brother/sister; let your siblings do things on their own. Just watch and guide them during their activities and only offer help when you know they really need it.


If you are a parent; do not spoon-feed your kids. Let them explore and do things their way as long as it doesn't pose danger to them. When they fall or stumble, let them stand on their own. That way he/she'll learn to be brave and you prevent them from being uber dependent to you.


If you are a student; don't let your classmates copy your homework. Don't let them copy your answers to your exams either. Let them study and work hard for their own grades.


If you are an employee; don't take all the workload. Let your colleagues do what they have to do. Learn to delegate. If there's a group project, don't do it by yourself 'coz they'll end up being lazy and a parasite to you.


As a child of God, keep in mind that we are not supposed to help everybody. Sometimes, we have to let others fight their own battles. :)

Today, I seldom see big butterflies. Even other insects such as big dragonflies and tiny fireflies rarely appear in our place. I just feel happy whenever I see one.

TRIVIA: How long does a butterfly live?

"An adult butterfly probably has an average life-span of approximately one month. In the wild, most butterflies lives are shorter than this because of the dangers provided by predators, disease, and large objects, such as automobiles. The smallest butterflies may live only a week or so, while a few butterflies, such as Monarchs, Mourning Cloaks and tropical heliconians, can live up to nine months." source

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