Let Them Struggle… So They Can Soar

Welcome back to another episode of Wisdom Wave broughtto you by Triumph through Training. I'm Rajan Arora, and today, we shall talk about the importance of struggling.

I want to share with you a story that has stayed with me for years. A simple one. But like all simple things in life—it carries deep wisdom. I call it the ‘Butterfly Story’

Once, a man, a nature lover was nurturing the plants and trees, when he found a chrysalis—a cocoon—on a branch in his garden. It was still, quiet… but he noticed tiny movementsinside. A butterfly was struggling to emerge.

He watched for hours as the butterfly fought and twisted, trying to push its way through a small opening.The man’s heart ached at the sight. So, wanting to help, he took a small pair of clippers and carefully snipped the chrysalis open—just enough to let the butterfly out easily.

The butterfly emerged… but he noticed that something was wrong. Its body was swollen. Its wings were shriveled and weak. It couldn’t fly. It never could. It fell here and there, and then finally  died. The man was very compassionate, andcould not bear that despite his help, the butterfly met its end—so fast—without living its short life, fully.

The sad man went to his friend who was a biologist, and narrated the heart-breaking incident. His friend explainedthat the man didn’t realize a universal law, backed by science, which was: the butterfly’s struggle to push out of the cocoon was nature’s way of forcing fluid from its swollen body into its wings—so it could fly when it finally broke free. And by making the path easier, he took away its very strength to live.

Isn’t that what many of us do—especially as parents, mentors, or well-meaning friends?

We cushion.
We protect.
We shield our loved ones from discomfort. But sometimes, in doing so, we also shield them from growth—for a lifetime. We make them so dependent that they lack the confidence to be on their own, ever.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says—

कर्मण्ये वाधिका रस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन

You have the right to perform your actions, not to the fruits thereof.

We must each do our own karma. No one else can do it for us. Not even out of love.

Gautam Buddha too said—a learned or enlightened person can show us the path, but we need to tread on it ourselves.

 As parents, it’s natural to want to protect our children from struggle. But we must remember what Kahlil Gibran wrote in The Prophet:

“You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.”

Isn’t that powerful?

Gibran reminds us that our children—and those we love—are not ours to mold, but souls on their own journey. Our role is not to carry them through life, but to walk beside them, guiding when asked, but trusting their path—even when it includes struggle.

So today’s gentle reminder is this:

💫 Let others do their karma.
💫 Let your children struggle a little.
💫 Let your loved ones fall, rise, and become strong.

The cocoon may look cruel—but it’s how butterflies are born.
And so it is with all of us.

Thank you for joining me today.Until next time, stay mindful, stay compassionate… and trust the journey.