She is a butterfly, born in the usual way that butterflies are born. As butterflies do, she flew from the moment she left her cocoon.

She could fly everywhere. And she did. She loved to fly. She loved to float in the wind. She never wondered how she could fly, until she landed on a Buddleia bush and saw her reflection in a window.

Curious, she looked at herself and flapped her wings. She watched them go up and down several times. She then started wondering how do my wings work? She then tried to get one wing to flap while the other stayed still. When that didn’t work, she tried the other side, with the same result. She then tried turning to the side to see how they worked.

She sat on the Buddleia bush all day wondering how her wings worked. She sat there so long, she forgot they worked at all.

After some more time passed, another butterfly landed beside her and asked what she was doing. She said, I saw my reflection and was wondering how my wings worked, and I’ve sat here so long trying to figure out how they work, I have forgotten how they work at all. What if I am stuck in this place forever? What if I can never fly again?

No worries, my friend, said the other butterfly. You have lost your way and have questioned how you fly. Maybe now you are also thinking since I can not fly, will my life ever be the same.

I am, she said. I loved my life and I loved to fly but now it seems I have messed it all up.

I have news for you, said her new friend. You can still fly. You can still have a life you love. It appears that you desperately want that so I will tell you how.

Please do, pleaded the butterfly.

First, know that you are loved. You are created to fly. You are unique and beautiful and you are not your mistakes or your questions.

Secondly, let go of all the doubts you have about if you can fly. Let it all go. You know you can fly. You were made to fly. You can fly, I believe in you.

It was then that the butterfly’s wings started to move. Ever so slightly at first but in no time at all , she was flying again.