The caterpillar and butterfly

Just when the caterpillar thought “I am incapable of moving,” it became a butterfly.

There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly.

When you feel that you’re about to fail, it might actually be that you’re about to fly.

We are all butterflies waiting to happen.

How very romantic and simplistic view of this mega metamorphosis! I sincerely wish it was as simple as it emerges from the above and many such quotes on bringing about self-change. How many of us know that for a caterpillar to turn into a butterfly, it has to dissolve itself completely in an apparently gruesome and painful process?

Having done its bit of gathering enough raw material for the transformation, the caterpillar turns in into the chrysalis and dissolves itself into a gooey oozy liquid with no resemblance to its previous self. All this is done to nourish the building blocks of its next life, the butterfly, which already exist within it. Remember, it is all hardwired into its genes by the nature, which means it does not have to do anything extraordinary other than to just obey the inner commands of nature. And lo and behold, from a creepy worm, it transforms into a beautiful butterfly over a few days!

Aren’t we, as humans too hardwired to improve over time? Haven’t we transformed over ages? If you go by Hindu philosophy, then even a lifetime is not a limiting factor; you could carry forward your Karma over ages and decide your own pace for turning into a better human being over a few lifetimes!

What makes the caterpillar-butterfly metaphor so romantic is the speed of change! A caterpillar today, a butterfly tomorrow! Don’t we wish it could be the same with us too?

Am I saying that it is not possible to change? No.

The nature has set the precedence. But it has slowed the pace for us, if we were to bank entirely on its ministrations to bring in that quantum of change. To crunch the timelines would take some effort from our side, and some investment in terms of dedication, time and effort. It emerges that our responses to the following posers would give us a good idea about our willingness or desire to invest in the process of self-change: –

• Do I really need to change? What for? What do are the benefits of maintaining the status quo? What are the costs? Does a caterpillar do it because it wants to look beautiful or fly? Not likely! But in our case, the story is different.
• Am I willing to turn in, just a caterpillar does into the cocoon/chrysalis? Mind you, in its case, it is much simpler, as the process is delicately controlled by its genes through release or stopping of certain hormones and enzymes. No such luxury in our case, other than to ensure our day to day survival. We would need to make a conscious decision to turn in for change.
• Am I willing to dissolve that part of my past which needs to dissolve, like in a caterpillar? Ha! This is the toughest part. It’s about letting go! Doesn’t come easily to us humans!

Change, in any form, will always demand a price. It always comes at a cost. Those willing to pay the price will reap benefits of constructive change by being ready for the future. The rest may continue to wait for the magic to happen ( like in “We are all butterflies waiting to happen.”)!

Inward change is primary and fundamental for any change outside of us.