The caterpillar gets the shaft.
Think about it. When was the last time you looked at awe at a caterpillar? Do people get tattoos of caterpillars on their back, wear caterpillar jewelry, or hang photos of them in their homes? I can’t say that I have seen any, however, I see a lot of butterflies everywhere on lots of different things. Even my business logo and offices are full of butterflies. We love butterflies because they represent the beauty of transition, and yes, that is important and amazing, but what about the act of faith the caterpillar was asked to take to become the butterfly? It is highly underrated.
It takes at most one month for a caterpillar to turn into a butterfly. They don’t question their mission, they just do it fearlessly and without looking back. They follow their purpose and execute it with no hesitation. There is no second guessing, no fear, no feet stomping, no complication. The caterpillar knows it’s meant to be more and it relentlessly finds it’s trueness. We can all learn a lot from the caterpillar. We can all approach our transformation in a similar way and with a similar focus, determination, and strength. When life gets hard, the leaps of faith we are asked to take call to us louder, but so do the doubts, fears, and negative thoughts.
How can we be more like a caterpillar?
Quiet the mind
The mind is a powerful thing. It’s an amazing thing, but sometimes, our thoughts can confuse and paralyze us from moving forward. The mind is a powerful data bank, similar to the hard drive of a computer. It only knows the memories, experiences, and information we have given it from the day we were born to this present moment. It is a deductive reasoning machine. Where the struggle comes, is when it’s something the mind can’t understand. Here’s an example. If I ask my mind if I will get killed if I decide to go and stand on the freeway, my mind uses the deductive information it has to process through the fact that 1.) The cars are going 80 miles an hour, 2.) cars on the freeway are not looking out for people, 3.) by the time the car sees me, it most likely wont be able to stop. The answer it gives me: YES. If I then ask my mind what my life purpose is, why God/Universe put me here in this life, and I haven’t given my mind that information, or I haven’t been given it, the answer it give me: CAN’T COMPUTE. The mind is amazing, but it has limitations.
The best way to quiet your mind is to spend 5-10 minutes a day in meditation or stillness. If you have trouble getting your thoughts to turn off, you can read my previous post with a technique I use here.
Listen to your heart center
So where do you get the answer about your life purpose, the reason you are here, what you can do to better navigate your life? From your heart center. The heart center (or heart chakra) is the area on our body where our connection to source and soul reside. Our soul knows why we are here in this life. It has access to our life blueprint and by strengthening our connection to the heart center, we can gain access to it to. We can bring into our conscious awareness the information necessary to begin to transform into the life we are meant to have. This takes practice and work, but once you get to know the sound of your heart’s voice, it becomes much easier to allow your heart to guide you.
Answer the call
The caterpillar knows when its time. It gets the call to transform and it does. Often we get tugs, nudges, pulls, to want more. To do more. To BE more, but we don’t answer the call. We stall, we hem and haw, we rationalize, we are afraid, and we let our rational mind justify our way out of taking the leap. The Universe is very patient, but the call rings louder, the pull gets stronger, and one day, we have no choice. If your call to transform has been ringing, its time to answer.
Allow time for the transformation
A caterpillar doesn’t turn into a butterfly overnight. It has to do the work to completely transform. Our process is similar. We have to make the commitment to transform our life, and we cannot expect immediate results. We also need to work, and work, and work again at removing the things holding us back. We let our fears, our logic, our negative self speak to take over and try to sabotage the transformation. If that happens, it’s okay. Start again.
The butterfly in you is worth the work.
This is easier said than done. I have designed a program that teaches you how to connect to the heart center and connect to your soul blueprint, so if you need help navigating life, taking those leaps of faith, or removing the negative barriers holding you back, I can help.
See my website or fill out the form below.
Joyful Heart Wellness & Spirit 