One of the privileges I experience as a life and leadership coach is getting to walk with another human as they take steps towards meaningful change.
This kind of change isn’t always easy and it certainly doesn’t happen all at once; in fact, the process takes time and can occasionally feel messy, much like the journey of a caterpillar on its way to becoming a butterfly.
There’s a shedding of old skin and an old way of life, followed by an incubation period wherein new signals are given so a new shape can eventually emerge.
What frequently gets overlooked is that between these 2 phases, the caterpillar is a big soupy mess!
Can you imagine if, at this point, the caterpillar decided THAT’S IT! I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE! STOP THE MOLTING, I WANT OUT!! It would never turn into the butterfly it’s destined to be.
We humans can be like this when we’re going through big change. It’s uncomfortable and messy and sometimes we want to give up because we can’t see the transformation that’s on the other side. We can’t see the person we’re becoming and we lose confidence we have what it takes.
We forget that, like the caterpillar who has within it all the ingredients it needs to become a butterfly, we too have everything we need to grow into the person we’re destined to be.
The difference is we humans need help seeing what our attributes are and how we can grow them. We need different perspectives and strategies, not to mention firm but kind nudges to learn how and where to cultivate these attributes so our journey of transformation becomes possible.
Since life is dynamic, this chrysalis state isn’t a ‘one and done’ event. Rather, we’re continually being invited to move from caterpillar to butterfly back to caterpillar on our way to becoming an even better version of butterfly.
The hard part about this is it means we’re basically molting all the time. (No wonder we feel so weird here.)
The beautiful part is, if we don’t like who we’ve become, we can always explore ways to change and grow into the person we know we’re meant to be.
We’re given a myriad of opportunities to learn and evolve over the course of a lifetime. The key is having a willingness and curiosity to see what else is possible and asking for the help to learn how to fly.
Where are you in your journey these days? Are you a caterpillar? A butterfly? A big, soupy mess?
I always love hearing from you, no matter what stage you’re in…xo