A man found a chrysalis of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared.

He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to

force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any

progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go

no further. So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of

scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the chrysalis. The butterfly

then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled

wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at

any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the

body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the

butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and

shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting chrysalis and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening was an essential step for forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight.

– Author Unknown