"So why did you climb all the way up here to begin
with?" asked the spider.
"My world was so limited down there. I wanted to see what I
was missing," replied the caterpillar.
"And now all you want to do is go back down?"
"Yes, I do."
"I've been down there," said the spider. "I was just there
yesterday. You see, all I need to do is float down on my web."
"That's why life is so unfair," said the caterpillar. "Some of
us have so much more than others. It took me so long to get
way up here. Then I was disappointed. When I was down
there I had choices to make. I could go wherever I wanted
and eat so many things. Up here in this tree, there is nowhere
to go and these leaves all taste the same. I just want to get
out of here."
"Well, head back down the tree," said the spider.
"No, it took so long to get here my life cycle is nearly over.
The life of a caterpillar is so short. I would never make it
back down in time to enjoy life again," said the caterpillar.
And so it is with many of us. We always want more but
never sure exactly what "more" is. But we know more is
never enough.
"So what will you do, my friend?" asked the spider.
"I don't know. I just want to crawl under that leaf and die,"
said the caterpillar.
"I can't believe you have that attitude! You have so much
to offer the world, so much more you can become," said
the spider. "You think that you have wasted all of this time
searching for answers. I believe that all of this was necessary
for you to become all you were created to be. Everything
you desire you possess already. Look inside. For there
lies all that you need."
"Look at me! I have too many feet, you can't tell which end
is which and my color is boring. What good am I?" sighed
the caterpillar. "I am tired, my friend. Please go about your
business and leave me alone."
The caterpillar crawled off and curled up inside a big leaf
near the end of a nearby branch. His friend the spider felt
so sorry for him as he watched the caterpillar close himself
off from the world. Everyday the spider would return in hope
that his friend would reawaken. He would stand next to him
and whisper "There is more to you than you know."
Then one day after repairing his web, the spider returned to
visit his friend. He was shocked. The leaf he had curled
up in was wide open. He was gone.
The spider was sad.
"I have lost my friend. I did all I could..."
"Spider, look up here. It's me, the caterpillar. You were right!"
Looking up toward the bright morning sun the spider saw
the silhouette of two huge, colorful wings flapping gently
in the breeze.
"Look at me! Look at what I have become!" shouted the
caterpillar. "I am a magnificent butterfly! I can go any
where I want now. Down there and back up here to
you, my friend."
"I told you. I kept saying there was more to you than
you know!"
"The answers were inside. You were right. I wanted so
much to get somewhere, but I didn't know where to go
or how to get there. But when I stopped, in all my frustration,
I discovered I did indeed have all that I needed to become
more than I was already." said the butterfly.
"So fly my friend. Fly!" said the spider. And he slowly
lowered himself with his thread from the tall tree as his
old friend fluttered around him.
The moral to this story?
Sometimes the answers to your problems simply
require you to stop where you are, turn over a new leaf
and discover all that you possess inside.
Then fly, my friend. Fly!
