Life's Struggles

This is a story that I read when I feel like I can't take anything else. When I feel like I can't handle anything else happening. I hope it helps someone else as much as it has helped me.

*A man found a cocoon of an emperor moth. He took it home so that he could watch the moth come out of the cocoon. On the day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the moth for several hours as the moth struggled to force the 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 farther. It just seemed to be stuck. Then the man, in his kindness, decided to help the moth, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The moth then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.
The man continued to watch the moth 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 little moth spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled 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 moth to get through the tiny opening was the way of forcing fluid from the body of the moth into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Freedom and flight would only come after the struggle. By depriving the moth of a struggle, he deprived the moth of health. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were to go through our life without any obstacles, we would be crippled. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. Give every opportunity a chance, leave no room for regrets. Author Unknown*

There are many times when I think life can't get any worse.. then I look around me and I realize how lucky I am. I have a roof over my head.. I can see what I want.. I can hear everything.. I can drive to the store if I need to... I can buy groceries. I have had alot of things happen in my life.. alot of things that would push a person to the limit. But I always remember I could be homeless..or hungry..or deaf..or blind. I could be unloved.. I could be unwanted. It is then I realize how lucky I am. Don't take life for granted. We don't know what is going to happen tomorrow. Just remember how much you have and be thankful for that and you will be happy in life and in love.

P.S. I didn't write this post, but it has a lot of good things to say. I found it posted on a forum I read sometimes, and decided I wanted to put it on my blog as well. Only the last paragraph is mine.