This was emailed to me by a reader of my blog. Thanks for sharing it:
He spoke to me about a native American that walked down a path through some forests in the 1800's, he saw a water puddle ahead on the path. He angled in a direction to go around it on the part of the path that wasn’t covered by water and mud. As he goes to the puddle, he was suddenly attacked!
Yet he did nothing for the attack was so unpredictable and from a something so completely unexpected. The Native American was startled as well as unhurt, even though he had been hit many times already. He backed up a foot and his attacker stopped attacking him. Instead of attacking more, he hovered in the air on graceful butterfly wings in front of him. Had he been hurt he wouldn’t have found it amusing, but he was unhurt, it was funny, and he laughed. After all, a butterfly was attacking him!
Having stopped laughing, he took a step forward. His attacker rushed him again. He rammed him in the chest with his head and body, striking him over and over again with all his might, still to no avail. For a second time, he retreated a step while his attacker relented in his attack.
Yet again, he tried moving forward. His attacker charged him again. He was rammed in the chest over and over again. He wasn’t sure what to do, other than to retreat a third time, after all, it’s just not everyday that a butterfly attacks a person. This time, though, he stepped back several paces to look the situation over. His attacker moved back as well to land on the ground. That’s when he discovered why his attacker was charging him only moments earlier.
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. The American Indian could only admire the love and courage of that butterfly in his concern for his mate. He had taken it upon himself to attack him for his mate’s sake, even though she was clearly dying and he was so large. He did so just to give her those extra few precious moments of life, should he have been careless enough to step on her.
Now the American Indian knew why and what he was fighting for. There was really only one option left for him. He carefully made his 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. He 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. He left them in peace for those last few moments, cleaning the mud from his boots when he later reached his teepee.
Since then, Native Americans have always tried to remember the courage of that butterfly whenever they see huge obstacles facing them. They use that butterfly’s courage as an inspiration and to remind himself that good things are worth fighting for.
If you have anything positive or motivating, please feel free to email it to me at
ntnocn123 (at) yahoo (dot) com. I will continue to respond to all of your emails.
Thank you for helping me build something to help me stay positive.
He spoke to me about a native American that walked down a path through some forests in the 1800's, he saw a water puddle ahead on the path. He angled in a direction to go around it on the part of the path that wasn’t covered by water and mud. As he goes to the puddle, he was suddenly attacked!
Yet he did nothing for the attack was so unpredictable and from a something so completely unexpected. The Native American was startled as well as unhurt, even though he had been hit many times already. He backed up a foot and his attacker stopped attacking him. Instead of attacking more, he hovered in the air on graceful butterfly wings in front of him. Had he been hurt he wouldn’t have found it amusing, but he was unhurt, it was funny, and he laughed. After all, a butterfly was attacking him!
Having stopped laughing, he took a step forward. His attacker rushed him again. He rammed him in the chest with his head and body, striking him over and over again with all his might, still to no avail. For a second time, he retreated a step while his attacker relented in his attack.
Yet again, he tried moving forward. His attacker charged him again. He was rammed in the chest over and over again. He wasn’t sure what to do, other than to retreat a third time, after all, it’s just not everyday that a butterfly attacks a person. This time, though, he stepped back several paces to look the situation over. His attacker moved back as well to land on the ground. That’s when he discovered why his attacker was charging him only moments earlier.
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. The American Indian could only admire the love and courage of that butterfly in his concern for his mate. He had taken it upon himself to attack him for his mate’s sake, even though she was clearly dying and he was so large. He did so just to give her those extra few precious moments of life, should he have been careless enough to step on her.
Now the American Indian knew why and what he was fighting for. There was really only one option left for him. He carefully made his 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. He 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. He left them in peace for those last few moments, cleaning the mud from his boots when he later reached his teepee.
Since then, Native Americans have always tried to remember the courage of that butterfly whenever they see huge obstacles facing them. They use that butterfly’s courage as an inspiration and to remind himself that good things are worth fighting for.
If you have anything positive or motivating, please feel free to email it to me at
ntnocn123 (at) yahoo (dot) com. I will continue to respond to all of your emails.
Thank you for helping me build something to help me stay positive.
posted by Tom Bailey at 9:19 AM
12 Comments:
Wow, this is another great story.
Kim.
Very inspiring story. Ryan
Tom, thanks for the email. I will call you later.
Dan
Smile at a total stranger - preferably an elderly person!
(and hope it isn't interpreted in the wrong way)
good one.
I love Native American tales. Thanks for sharing.
Hey Tom, This is Sarah - you visited my blog earlier this week. Just wanted to check out your site, and I like the positive stories. I, like you, try to avoid being around negative people. Your site is interesting! Keep up the posts!
well you see I hang around negative people on a daily basis so I don't know how inspirational you will ever find me...
Thanks for passing by my site. I hope you submitted this story to a writing contest. It's very good.
Hello, you posted a very kind comment on my projects blog and I wanted to drop by and look at your blog. You have an interesting and impressive collection of writings and information here. (And, of course, I'm also a bit curious how you happened to find my project blog. :-))
Aw, that story is so sweet. How inspiring.
What a beautiful and sad story, and I'll be back for more
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