5th August 2025
There’s an old story that I try & remember when Iam struggling with something.
“A man stumbled upon a cocoon of an emperor moth & took it home to witness its transformation.
One day, a small opening appeared. The man watched as the moth began to struggle to force its body through the tiny crack. A few hours went by as the moth wriggled, fought, and pushed—but it couldn’t seem to break through the tiny crack.
Feeling bad, the man carefully cracked the cocoon and peeled away the pieces to open up a path for the moth.
It quickly emerged, but something was wrong. Its body was swollen and its wings weren’t working. Days went by without progress. The moth never flew.
Only later did the man learn what had happened: The painful struggle to break free of the cocoon forces fluid from the moth’s body and wings. Without that struggle, the fluid was never drained and the moth was permanently incapacitated.”
Your entire life will change when you realize that growth feeds on meaningful struggle.
When we avoid that struggle, we literally starve our growth of the oxygen it needs to thrive.
Our natural bias to avoid discomfort, and to prevent those you love from feeling it, does more harm than good.
The truth is that long-term freedom is earned through a willingness to endure short-term struggle.
This sparks an important question:
What growth are you starving with the struggle you’re avoiding?
It’s easy to opt out of the struggle:
We procrastinate on the important project.
We avoid the difficult conversation.
We hide from the internal work.
We skip the challenging workouts.
We dodge the deep work.
We run from the hard questions
We numb ourselves with cheap dopamine.
We want transformation—but the transformation is impossible without tension.
Growth isn’t a byproduct of ease. It’s a byproduct of struggle.
So, the next time you find yourself in that struggle—feeling stuck, overwhelmed, and tempted to quit—remember the moth:
The resistance may be the very thing shaping you into someone who can fly.
The growth you asked for is hidden in the struggle you avoid.
Remember that & stay blessed forever.