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I liken my personal
journey as a growth process. I have so
much to learn not only about me, but about those around me and how I am in
relationship to them. I learn something
new daily and am trying very hard to put into practice what I am learning. I love learning about all kinds of things,
but this learning curve at times has been so steep I have needed ice climbing
cleats! I look at it as a never-ending
process for I will never learn everything and that's okay. The point is, I enjoy the process of
learning. I enjoy the "aha"
moment and the understanding it brings to my awareness. Learning makes me feel alive. Boredom doesn't exist on my path.
Anyway, back to the
snake and the butterfly. Paul and I have
visited the Butterfly room in the Houston Museum of Science (VERY cool and
worthwhile if you are ever in the area) a few times now. You walk into the room and there are
butterflies flitting everywhere! There
are all colors, shapes and kinds of butterflies all over the room -- swooping,
resting, flitting, teasing. It is a
wonderful place and you can sit in there for hours on end just watching them
fly all around. You see chrysalises hanging from leaves and know that more are on
their way into the world. It's a
beautiful, fun place to be.
Two weeks ago I was
weeding my flower beds and was surprised by a garden snake slithering in the
grass next to me. I jumped up and said
-- "Well, hello there -- you just stay on your side and I'll stay on mine."
-- to which he curled up under the rose bush and did promptly that. I kept on weeding -- keeping my eye on
him. Also that week I had found a couple
baby snakes in the basement.
(Yikes!) Now they were smaller
than the big snake, but I am a firm believer that all snakes belong outside,
not inside the house. I quickly call out
to one of my snake charmers (Paul, Isaac, or Joel) who come to my rescue by
picking up the snake and throwing it outside.
(Phew!)
Being an outdoorsy
kind of gal I have come across my share of snake skins. They always freak me out a little bit, but I
understand that the snake just doesn't fit in its coat anymore and must shed it
if it's to keep growing.
On the other hand,
the butterfly does almost the same thing by coming out of its chrysalis but
with one difference. The butterfly gets
one shot at growth, lives for about two weeks and then dies. The snake, however, keeps shedding when it
grows and lives on to keep on growing.
My friends, I don't
want a one shot chance at growth no matter how beautiful the change might make
me. I want to be like the snake who
sheds the old dead habits and leaves them behind only to keep on growing and
learning and shedding.
So, what would you
rather be like?
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