You may use this image in your ezine or website if you choose to publish my article. Click here to see the picture full-sized.--- Mark Susnow

Letters on Life

There are lessons to be learned wherever you are and sometimes 
they are least expected. They appear in many forms and in many 
different circumstances.  Last summer I was struggling, not sure 
of my direction.  I felt like my life was on hold and I was 
waiting for something exciting to happen.  I was totally attached 
to things being different.  And then in a yoga class it hit me. 
For the last six years I have been a serious student of Yoga.  I 
get excited about breakthroughs in my practice.   But this 
particular class was different from all of the other classes.  We 
held the postures for five minutes--finding our edge between pain 
and pleasure.  Pushing ourselves, yet respecting our boundaries. 
Like so many other things after a little success you want more. 
But this summer I wanted things to go faster than they were.  I 
wanted things to be different.  I was becoming impatient.  And 
then Bhavani, our teacher, started reading.  In each class what 
she read was different. But it was what she read on this occasion 
that made a difference. 

"A man found a cocoon 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 cocoon.  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 
cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through 
the tiny opening were God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of 
the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight 
once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon!"

If you knew that you would become a butterfly at the right time, 
would the cocooning be more meaningful? Consider an area of your 
life in which you are being held back by a restricting cocoon? 
Look at what’s holding you back as if it were the road you must 
travel.   Stop the struggle, feel the freedom and fly away!

I love receiving your many responses and feedback. Keep them 
coming. Feel free to pass on this letter to the friends in your 
circle and let them know about the advantages of being on the 
journey.

Mark  

Mark Susnow, formerly a trial attorney for 30 years, is a coach, 
speaker, musician, and group facilitator who motivates and 
empowers others to live the life they want and deserve.  He 
lives in Marin County, and on the island of Kauai, with his 
wife and family.  http://www.inspirepossibility.com/