The Butterfly Breakdown

A Butterfly's Flight

Butterfly

Why won’t you fly?

Is it the wind?

The same wind that could bring you high?

Or is the gravity in which you defy?

Fly high butterfly

They don’t see the struggle in your flight,

But the beauty of your wings catches their sight.

-cin

The Butterfly Breakdown - Poem Synopsis

“Butterfly, why won’t you fly?”

During a certain stage in my healing process, this was a question I had to ask myself.

What was holding me back from reaching my full potential?

It took a few months of self-reflection before I was able to answer this question honestly.

After a while, I pinpointed the main reasons why I wouldn’t “fly”:

Fear of Failure

I knew who I wanted to become and what I wanted to achieve, but once I started to step into that, my perfectionism kicked in and I felt like everything I did wasn’t right. This alone held me back for years. I had to learn how to let my fear motivate me or I wouldn’t have started pursuing my dreams in the first place.

Lack of Commitment/Procrastination

Y’all! I am fighting this as I write! I don’t write my blogs in one day, they’re usually completed over a span of a few days… or weeks even.

oingGranted, my schedule can get pretty busy working two jobs, content making, spending time with family and friends, going to the gym, errands, etc., but on my downtimes, I’ve found myself doing anything else BUT writing.

In my experience, procrastination goes back to fear of failure. When we doubt our ability to succeed, we tend to shy away from things to save ourselves from the disappointment of failing. Or we start a new journey, don’t get the instant gratification, then give up and feel like we’ve failed.

My advice to that is: Rome wasn’t built in one day, there’s no way to lose 30 pounds in one week, and moreall, you can’t rush God’s timing. Trust me, I know it can be challenging, but keep putting in the work and you will reap the benefits soon.

Limiting Beliefs

Our belief of who we can be lies in our imagination. But so does our belief of what we can’t do. This is how self-doubt is born.

When we step out of that dream and actually define what we can and cannot do, that’s when we allow our limiting beliefs to control our reality.

I strongly believe we have the capability to do anything we set our minds to, but if you are constantly telling yourself you can’t, then you will not.

Practice positive self-talk everyday. If you have to do things like create an affirmation wall to remind yourself, then do that. Once uplifting yourself becomes a habit, self-doubt has no room to live.

“Is it the wind?

The same wind that could bring you high?

Or is the gravity in which you defy?”

Wind and Gravity. These are two forces that could either push you back or hold you down.

When you look at this from a metaphorical perspective, there can be factors in our lives, or within ourselves, that have the same effect.

Scenario time.

There’s this content creator. Let’s call her Kristel. For privacy purposes.

Kristel has a vision about a website where she can inspire others with her words and authentically express herself in many, different ways.

But Kristel is afraid of what people will think of her if she fails. :(

Will Kristel ever reach her dreams if she is always seeking others’ approval?

No I wi– I mean, no she will not.

If Kristel is always focused on what someone else thinks about her, all attempts to gain their approval will only push her back on the journey of finding herself.

Instead, Kristel uses the fear of what's unfamiliar to fuel her passion of creating, and understands that failure is just a part of the process. Now she can help others who have similar issues with the new knowledge she’s gained along the way. Kristel is no longer held back by the wind (judgment of others) or weighed down by the gravity (fear of failure) in her life.

I made up this very, very random story so you can understand this:

Your journey is dependent on your ability to overcome your fears.

Doing what’s uncomfortable is the only way you will learn what you’re truly capable of.

“Fly high butterfly

They don’t see the struggle in your flight

But the beauty of your wings catches their sight.”

When you see a butterfly, it kind of makes you stop and stare for a second. You may take note of how big or small it is, the color of its wings, the direction it flew off to.

You might even get a little deep and admire its freedom to fly wherever it pleases… then you proceed to walk back into your corporate 9-5 job (LOL jk…. not really).

But have you ever thought, “Wow. It takes about 0.14^12 joules per second for an average monarch to fly. That’s approximately 100-600k miles per kilojoule! Sheesh!!”

Exactly.

At first glance, people don’t know what you’ve been through and all the work you put in during your transformative ‘cocoon’ phase. Like a butterfly, they just admire what they see – your powerful yet calming presence, your confident smile, the elegance in your stance, and the grace in your speech. They congratulate you for your accomplishments, but your joy comes from knowing all it took to get you there. The story behind your success is now your testimony.

The ending of this poem serves as a reminder to “fly high” regardless of the obstacles you face. Sometimes, the pain you endure on the journey is necessary to reveal your true strength.

Looking back, you can even appreciate the times you had to pull your own self out of that dark place and find the courage to keep going; it taught you self-motivation and is why you didn’t quit. It disciplined you to stay committed. It’s what kept you focused on your goals even when you were surrounded by distractions. It’s why you consistently show up for yourself everyday despite having no support. No one will ask why you are going through the struggle, but once you come out victorious, they will ask how you did it.

That's why you have to keep flying butterfly, because what you’re becoming is beautiful.

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