CAN WE REALLY CHANGE? A LESSON FROM NATURE
I have long admired the beauty and apparent simplicity of butterflies, and the more I have learned about them, the more complex and inspiring they become.
There is the old saying that ‘a leopard never changes it’s spots’ and people love to bring this out when relationships end, and when trying to make one person out to be the ‘bad one’. It’s lovely and supportive to have such people around us, and yet, if we don’t believe others can change, how can we believe in ourselves as we try to make change to ourselves and our lives, our hopes and our dreams?
The phoenix is a wonderful, romantic and mythical creature which gives hope to the possibility of change, as it turns to ashes and is reborn time and time again. Even more magical and real than the phoenix is the butterfly.
Many times when people are trying to solve an modern day issue or invent something new, science returns to nature to see what it can learn. When it comes to change I would like to follow suit and return to nature.
I believe change is truly possible, for any human being, with any ‘track record’, and I use the butterfly as my argument. A creature which creates its own protective shell, whilst inside it transforms into its most vulnerable state as it digests itself and turns almost entirely into liquid form in order that it can change from a caterpillar to a butterfly.
So true transformation and change is possible in nature. The difference is that the butterfly has no choice over its change. It is a predetermined event that, provided it survives the caterpillar phase without being eaten, will happen automatically. The difference with humans is that we have brains that allow us to make choices. So the real barrier to change is not impossibility but your own will, desire and actions. If you want change bad enough you will make it happen. The only thing stopping you is yourself.
So in times of doubt, remember the butterfly, because if its possible in nature, its possible for you.
Lydia x
For more info on how a caterpillar changes into a butterfly, read on below.
How Does a Caterpillar Change Into a Butterfly?
Building the Cocoon
A caterpillar, when it is fully grown, secretes a long stream of liquid from its glands, called the spinneret, located below its mouth. The liquid stiffens forming a silk like thread which is used to attach its hind end to a twig or leaf. The caterpillar spins the silky thread around its body to form a covering. This outside layer hardens to form a shell called a chrysalis.
The Transformation Process
Inside the cocoon the caterpillar changes into a pupa. In a process called histolysis, the caterpillar digests itself from the inside out, causing its body to die. During this partial death, some of the caterpillar’s old tissues are salvaged to form new. This remnant of cells are called the histoblasts and are used to create a new body. Using its digestive juices, the caterpillar turns his old larval body into food which he uses to rebuild its new body.
Breaking Out of the Shell
Once the pupa has fully grown inside the cocoon, and the butterfly is ready to emerge, the insect releases a fluid which softens the shell. The butterfly pushes on the walls of the shell until it breaks open. The process of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly can take anywhere from 10 days to several months.
Read more: How Does a Caterpillar Change Into a Butterfly? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4565708_caterpillar-change-butterfly.html#ixzz2DmpIX8dm