The Cycle of Life...Even With Our Ideas

Emerging from a chyrsalis

by Skip Cohen

I apologize for feeling a little philosophical this morning; it is Sunday, and my Reflections posts are never about marketing and business.

Sheila and I walk every morning, and as we went out today, on milkweed that's grown on the side of the house, we spotted caterpillars everywhere. In all sizes, from newborns to the mature - there they were, munching away like a group of truckers at a highway diner with a buffet! 

When I was a kid, I had no appreciation for caterpillars and even less fascination for the cycle of life they represented. Yet, as an adult, I am considering handing out cigars for our newborns. These are Monarchs, and within the next few weeks, they'll form a chrysalis, and a few weeks after that, a new Monarch will emerge. 

Sadly, they only live two to six weeks, except for the last generation, which can live for months. I'm trying to figure out what God had in mind for these guys - Monarchs are amazing and live for such a short time, but a palmetto bug (Florida's fancy name for what the rest of us call cockroaches) lives for two years.

And here's my point...Monarchs never slow down. We've watched the process repeatedly over the last six years since planting our butterfly garden. Watching a male and female dance in the air through their courtship makes us smile. Then, a few weeks later, she's laid eggs on the milkweed, and another generation is about to be born.

Think about some of the events in your life. You had an idea, a dream, a goal. The idea hatched was put in motion and grew into something, or maybe it didn't. But another thought popped into your head and hatched again. While you might have been frustrated that it didn't go as planned, you're still here and continue trying. That cycle of life continues with our ideas. 

Are there moments when we want to give up? Of course, but like the Monarch, we stay with it as long as we can fly. Then, we kick back, do our best to figure out what we missed, and go into high gear and start again.

Years ago, I learned that everything always works out for the better. Whether it really does, or it's the way our mind helps us cope and rationalize, doesn't make any difference. So when I look at the disappointments in my past, they've always led to something better. One door might have closed, but another opened.

I feel like SNL's Jack Handy this morning, but I never said these were deep and heavy concepts. LOL

Wishing everybody a wonderful day ahead. Make it a day where like the Monarch, you just float and enjoy everything around you. Go for those eleven-second therapeutic hugs with those people who mean the most to you, and take the time to appreciate how much you've grown, even with those bumps in the road along the way.

Happy Sunday...or Monday on the other side of the world.

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