Yes really. Call it a
life lesson - learned the hard way.
Dear
Stanley,
I hope this letter finds you in good
health…
~*~
Imagine
a delicate butterfly. It flaps it wings against the wind, and against all odds,
it lands on your fingertips.
When you're young, and you're in Love,
you can't wait to tell the world. You shout out at the top of your lungs! You rejoice!
You jump up and down and yell to the world, “Look at me for I have a butterfly upon
my finger!”
In your excitement, in your haste, the
butterfly that happened upon your finger flourishes away.
~*~
When you're older, you see how fleeting
that Love really was.
That moment was too precious then. It remains still too precious to this day. No longer the hasty
wide-eyed sapling, you begin to understand that timing plays so crucial a role
in this life. In this decaying state of withering age, the Old-Man You
simply has LITTLE TIME to waste.
No longer do you seek approval from a
third party. You cherish each delicate moment as life presents itself, because
you realize that each moment can just as easily fly away as that butterfly once
did.
You realized that butterfly was never
yours to begin with, that it belonged to nature and all of nature’s offerings
–the good and the bad.
Having loved, having lost, you now know
what it means to seize the day, to be in Zen, to be in perfect harmony, in
time, place, in the here and now. Likewise, you know what it means when all
these things turn against you. At times a burden, at times a bounty, nature
continues on with or without you wave after wave.
~*~
You are but a branch upon a tree, a
tree within a forest. The roots of the tree are deep. Draw nourishment from
this reservoir of knowledge. Take in the air and the sunlight. Give back that
nourishment to the tree from which you sprung and the forest that has fared
nature’s whims with you. You are not alone in your struggles. Take in the air.
Take in the sunlight.
You will find that the butterfly was
not Love. The Love you thought you had, the Love you thought you lost
never left your heart. You will find Love was in the air, Love dancing in the
sunlight, Love frolicking in the forest, Love swinging from the trees, and most
importantly Love within yourself.
And perhaps one day, you will realize,
that you are more spectacular than you had thought. You will shout at the top of
your lungs, you will go to every tree in the forest, and you shall sing to the
world, ““Look at me WORLD for I am the butterfly!”
Sincerely,
Cal
~*~
