MY TWO CENTS:
No skirmish, no strength. Know skirmish, know strength.
It may seems like a weird way to start this edition of MTC, but I ran across this note as I was preparing and it struck me. As a point of clarification, when we mention skirmish, we aren’t talking about fisticuffs but about a struggle or a challenge.
Have you ever watched a butterfly struggle to exit it’s cocoon from being a caterpillar? This process seems so difficult for this beautiful insect. As you watch, you begin to wonder if it’s going to make it or simply die in the process.
Therein lies the beautiful truth of this process, though. The strength the butterfly needs to survive, thrive, and fly is developed as a part of the struggle wrestling itself from the grasp of the cocoon. In fact, if you were to help that butterfly emerge from the cocoon without the struggle, the butterfly will likely die soon thereafter because it doesn’t have the strength necessary to live the full life for which it was created.
The strength that we now possess probably came as a result of our past skirmishes. While we were in the middle of the skirmish we almost certainly would have preferred someone “cut our cocoon” so we didn’t have to struggle so much. Whether those skirmishes were a rough upbringing, a health issue, a job loss, a broker relationship, or any number of other circumstances of life, we were able to develop our strength to move forward as a result of the wrestling we did during that season of life.
So, in what skirmish do you find yourself right now? What skirmish have you been avoiding because you don’t believe you have it in you to “fight” your way through it? Or, maybe the better question to ask is…
“What is the beautiful outcome that waits for you once you make it through this skirmish?”
Make it a great week!
Scott Cousino, CFP®, CEPA®
President