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Walking down a path through some woods in Georgia in 1977,
I saw a water puddle ahead on the path.
I angled my
direction to go around it on the part of the path that wasn't
covered by water and mud.
As I reached the puddle, I was
suddenly attacked!
Yet, I
did nothing, for the attack was so unpredictable and
from a source so totally unexpected.
I was startled
as well as unhurt, despite having been struck four or
five times already.
I backed up a foot and my
attacker stopped attacking me.
Instead of attacking
more, he hovered in the air on graceful butterfly wings
in front of me..
Had I been hurt I wouldn't have
found it amusing, but I was unhurt, it was funny, and I
was laughing. After all, I was being attacked by a
butterfly!
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Having
stopped laughing, I took a step forward.
My attacker
rushed me again. He rammed me in the chest with his head
and body, striking me over and over again with all his
might, still to no avail.
For a second time, I
retreated a step while my attacker relented in his
attack.
Yet again, I tried moving forward.
My attacker
charged me again. I was rammed in the chest over and
over again. I wasn't sure what to do, other than to
retreat a third time.
After all, it's just not everyday that one is
attacked by a butterfly.
This time, though, I
stepped back several paces to look the situation over.
My attacker moved back as well to land on the
ground. That's when I discovered why my attacker was
charging me only moments earlier.
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He had a
mate and she was dying.
She was beside the puddle
where he landed.
Sitting close beside her, he opened
and closed his wings as if to fan her.
I could only
admire the love and courage of that butterfly in his
concern for his mate.
He had taken it upon himself to
attack me for his mate's sake, even though she was
clearly dying and I was so large.
He did so just to
give her those extra few precious moments of life,
should I have been careless enough to step on her..
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Now I
knew why and what he was fighting for.
There was
really only one option left for me. I carefully made my
way around the puddle to the other side of the path,
though it was only inches wide and extremely
muddy.
His courage in attacking something thousands
of times larger and heavier than himself just for his
mate's safety justified it.
I couldn't do anything other than reward him by
walking on the more difficult side of the puddle.
He
had truly earned those moments to be with her,
undisturbed. I left them in peace for those last few
moments, cleaning the mud from my boots when I later
reached my car..
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Since
then, I've always tried to remember the courage of that
butterfly whenever I see huge obstacles facing me.
I
use that butterfly's courage as an inspiration and to
remind myself that good things are worth fighting for
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