“What is it that you want?” asked my friend Suzy when we talked about what’s next for me after the pandemic lockdown.
“I want to help more people heal their past hurts so they can step into what’s possible for them.”
“I want to come out of “hiding” and have a bigger impact.”
As I said it, I thought about all that I have gone through in my life that led me to this very moment.
All the ups and downs… joys and sorrows… victories and defeats… the experiences that shaped who I am today.
“You’re like a caterpillar that is trying to break through the cocoon,” replied Suzy. “It may seem hard, but it isn’t.”
It made me realize…
The act of birthing is not a struggle.
When a caterpillar tries to break through the cocoon and pushes through a small hole in its walls, all it sees is a gate to freedom — an opening to a new, grander version of itself.
It’s a new beginning filled with hope, excitement and exploration of what’s next in its evolution.
The caterpillar’s life inside the cocoon is not a struggle.
It’s just a preparatory stage for what is about to come when it morphs into a butterfly.
It made me think about my life…
Most of my life, I’ve been hooked on a program of struggle. Having been raised in Poland, an ex-communist country, struggle was deeply encoded in my psyche. It was accepted as a norm.
When I came to the US, I realized that a concept of struggle was an international addiction.
In America, it was just phrased differently. “Work hard and the success will follow.”
But hard implies hardship. In essence, it means struggle.
As I was listening to Suzy talking about a caterpillar, I recognized its innate desire to transform — to become a butterfly. I got to appreciate how patiently the caterpillar waits inside the cocoon as it is being prepared for the transition into what it is about to become.
In that moment I understood that all experiences that I had had in my life weren’t really a struggle.
They were simply a playground in which I was evolving, learning how to fly… how to spread my wings… how to step into the next stage of my own evolution.
In the midst of the coronavirus crisis, we’re all being forced to evolve.
You may feel like a caterpillar trying to spread your wings within the confinement of your cocoon. You may be fighting the walls that surround you so you can emerge out of your standstill and succeed.
Is it possible that you’re not locked inside?
Perhaps you are simply being prepared and incentivized to transform who you are now, so that you can become the new, bigger, and more exquisite version of yourself.
As you feel yourself move through the tiny hole in your cocoon, it looks like you’re struggling but you are not. You are in the process of metamorphosis. You’re rebirthing yourself into a new level of wisdom and empowerment.
You’ve been preparing for this exact moment for a long time.
When you release the concept of struggle, you’ll see your past as a preparatory stage — a momentary experience in your evolution.
And when you look back at your life, you may realize that all your experiences with their perceived stagnation, defeats or lack of results were simply preparing you for this exact moment.
You’ve been expanding who you are.
It was not a struggle.
It was an elementary school of life, followed by a middle school and a high school… until this moment of graduation when it’s time to break through the cocoon and, as Suzy said, “Leave the place of liquid comfort into a new space of beauty and grace.”
Everything you’ve always wanted and waited for is NOT inside the cocoon. It’s outside its walls.
It’s time to spread your wings, dry them off, and fly onto a bigger stage.
This is your graduation.
Claim it!
Dagmar Fleming
Founder, Unlock Your Success
P.S. Are you ready to fly? Learn what’s holding you back and how to overcome it by signing up for the Rapid Breakthrough Session with me. Reserve your spot here.
