Building Strength for Tomorrow
As woodturners, we tend to get better at the things we practice. If we turn bowls, after a while, it doesn’t take much thought, but it is still fun. If we make tops, pens, bottle stoppers, etc., pretty soon we can make them while watching TV in the shop at the same time. So, when we have the opportunity to help someone new, it is tempting to “Help” them by doing it for them. Just as when our kids were struggling with their math or English homework it was tempting to just do it for them. It can be difficult to watch someone struggle to learn and not step in to help.
The following story and multiple versions of it have been around forever, but is still a great life lesson. I am using it here with permission.
“By Paulo Coelho
A man spent hours watching a butterfly struggling to emerge from its cocoon. It managed to make a small hole, but its body was too large to get through it. After a long struggle, it appeared to be exhausted and remained absolutely still.
The man decided to help the butterfly and, with a pair of scissors, he cut open the cocoon, thus releasing the butterfly. However, the butterfly’s body was very small and wrinkled and its wings were all crumpled.
The man continued to watch, hoping that, at any moment, the butterfly would open its wings and fly away. Nothing happened; in fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its brief life dragging around its shrunken body and shriveled wings, incapable of flight.
What the man – out of kindness and his eagerness to help – had failed to understand was that the tight cocoon and the efforts that the butterfly had to make in order to squeeze out of that tiny hole were Nature’s way of training the butterfly and of strengthening its wings.
Sometimes, a little extra effort is precisely what prepares us for the next obstacle to be faced. Anyone who refuses to make that effort, or gets the wrong sort of help, is left unprepared to fight the next battle and never manages to fly off to their destiny.
(Adapted from a story sent in by Sonaira D’Avila)”
Guidance in a learning situation is different than lending a helping hand to a brother or sister in need. Wisdom will show you the difference because wherever you go, there you are.
Here are my inspirations for this message:
Psalm 32:8 NIV
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
Proverbs 15:22 NIV
22 Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.
Ephesians 6:4 NIV
4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Sweepstakes Winners From The AAW Symposium In Atlanta June 2016
The following people won gift certificates for any items offered for sale at www.ronbrownsbest.com by entering Ron Brown’s Best, LLC drawing during their visit to our booth at the AAW in Atlanta. Thanks to all who entered.
$250 Gift Certificate Frank Pearsall
$100 Gift Certificate Andy Wilkerson
$50 Gift Certificate Sue Fox
Congratulations to this year’s winners! Winners, please Contact us for details.
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