Struggles are Stepping Stones for Success

Young Gopal was struggling. He could not easily understand mathematics, especially the intricacies of calculus, unlike some of his classmates who could solve calculus problems in a jiffy. He was dejected.
As he sighed and looked up, his eyes fell on the lovely deities of Radha and Krishna in the pooja room. His mother had always encouraged him to speak his heart out to them. Gopal ran to the pooja room and asked the deities silently, “Krishna! Are you not compassionate? Why should you allow so much struggle on my part? Struggle is just pain. Nothing else. It seems so unfair!”
The deities just stood there, smiling at him. Gopal looked down again at his calculus book that he held in his hand, hoping for a sudden dawn of understanding. But no such thing happened. Receiving no response to his prayers, Gopal was disappointed. He dropped the book and walked out of the room.
He decided to go out to the garden for some fresh air.
It was then that it happened!
Gopal spotted the cocoon of a butterfly. He had seen it there, on a leaf, for the past few days. But that day, something strange happened. Even as he was looking at the cocoon, a small opening appeared. Gopal perked up. Curious, he sat and watched the butterfly for a long time as it struggled to force its body through that little hole.
It tried and tried, then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gone as far as it could and that it could go no farther. Gopal thought, “This butterfly is in no better position than me! It is also struggling and the end was not anywhere near! But at least let me help it come out.”
So he got a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily.
Gopal heaved a sigh of relief and was overjoyed that he had helped the butterfly out of its struggle. But his joy was short lived!
The butterfly had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. It was crippled and could not fly. Gopal was shocked! He felt as if that butterfly was fluttering in his own stomach as he continued to watch it, hoping that at any moment its body would contract and its wings would enlarge and expand, thus enabling the insect to fly.
Neither happened!
In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.
Gopal cried and ran to his mother, who was now in the pooja room. He explained everything, right from his struggle to the butterfly’s predicament.
Gargi, his mother, was a science teacher. She listened patiently to Gopal’s entire story. Then smiling compassionately, she took him by her side and said, “My dear Gopu! In your misplaced kindness and haste you did not understand that the restricting cocoon and the struggle for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening was our Lord Krishna’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings, so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. That struggle was essential for the butterfly. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life, my dear boy! If Krishna allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as we could have really been. And so we could never fly high in life!”
No one noticed the lovely flower on deity of Sri Krishna drop down softly, blessing the silent prayer of Gopal with a subtle answer.
Gopal smiled for the first time that day and wiped his tears away. With renewed strength he went back to his Math book, understanding the simple truth of life: உழல்வதெல்லாம் உயர்வதர்க்கே! – Struggles are stepping stones for success in life.