Deck - I've posted this story before. I'm not an extremely religious person, but this resonates with me anyway:
[color=purple]
A man found a cocoon of a butterfly, which he carefully brought home. Several days later a small opening appeared. He sat and watched several hours as the butterfly struggled to force its body through the tiny opening. After hours of struggle, the butterfly stopped making any progress in its escape. It appeared as if it had gone as far as it could.
The man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and carefully enlarged the hole. The butterfly was then able to exit the cocoon easily, but like a newborn infant, it looked misshapen. Its body was swollen and its wings were small, shriveled things.
"Surely, at any moment, the wings would expand," the man thought as he continued to watch. But nothing happened. The body remained swollen and the wings remained crippled. It was never able to fly.
What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required of the butterfly to emerge through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings. Once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon, it would be ready for flight.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as we could have been.[/color]
[B]My Milage:[/B]
[B]My Quit Date: [/B]2/24/2007
[B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 370
[B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 12,950
[B]Amount Saved:[/B] $2,405.00
[B]Life Gained:[/B]
[B]Days:[/B] 31 [B]Hrs:[/B] 12 [B]Mins:[/B] 50 [B]Seconds:[/B] 54
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Quit Meter
$1,144,825.00
Amount Saved
-
Quit Meter
Days: 6005
Hours: 4
Minutes: 18
Seconds: 33
Life Gained
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Quit Meter
45793
Smoke Free Days
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Quit Meter
915,860
Cigarettes Not Smoked
