Metamorphosis

Some years back, we had a student name Nimaya who says the darnest things.  One day, as I was sitting beside her in Art Class and I saw her drawing a butterfly inside a jar.  I complimented the drawing and said, “Nimaya, that is quite a drawing. However, I think you forgot to draw the lid.  You don’t want the butterfly to escape, do you?”  I was so proud of my imagination. Hah! Well, until  Nimaya quips, “ But Ms. Imelda, don’t you see, all the windows in this room are closed anyway, so don’t worry about the butterfly escaping.” And I thought I had imagination!

For us adults, reality becomes integral to the way we interpret the world that we have lost that lens that governs all transformation:  Our capacity to believe.

We no longer believe easily. Everything needs to be proven, measured by reason, statistics and fortified by testimonies. 

However, Metamorphosis happens when despite being fat, sluggish caterpillars, we believe we can become butterflies no matter how far it may seem to our present reality. 

Metamorphosis happens when we believe that no matter where we are in life right now, we can become who we are meant to be.

Who do you believe you can become in the future? Yes, you at age 30, 40, 50, 60 do you still wonder, who you’d be when you grow up?

Everyday, we are in the journey of morphing into becoming some future self anyway.  We morph into that person we will see in front of the mirror 10, 15, 20 years down the line.

Then, we would be facing the mirror and see the product of all our life choices, our routines, our thoughts.  Everything you said yes to, everything you turned down.  Every challenge hurdled or every excuse you’ve ever made. 

Photo credit to: patcegan.wordpress.com

What I do not want to happen to anyone in this room including me, is to find ourselves, 10, 15, 20 years from now standing in front of that mirror asking ourselves, “What happened to you?”  “What happened to that cute bright eyed little girl that is always excited and positive?” “What happened to that smart boy who knows everything and can do anything?” “What happened to all the parenting that has gone into you?” “What happened to all your potentials?” “What happened to all the opportunities that presented itself?”

Worse is if we ask our future self, “Who are you?”

How do we keep ourselves from that regretful encounter with our future self?

First, start living with intention again.  Show up for your life! Be there at every moment of choice.  At those points, choose growth, say yes to being better, permit yourself to think well of others, be present in your life again.  Instead of living life like a passive victim to external circumstances, to what other people say, or just following the crowd making up items in your bucket list just because somebody has it in theirs. 

How do you know if you are living a life with intention? Ask your self, did I wake up at the time I intended to wake up today? Was the amount of time I spent in prayer or work out or with family over the past week, the amount I intended? Is the money I have in the bank right now, how I intended it to be? Am I in a career that I intended to be in? Are my skill sets the way I planned it? Are the people I have in my life, the people I intend to be there because they help me grow?

Know who is at the steering wheel of your life. Hopefully it is not Mr. Chance, or Mr. Laziness,  or Ms. Whim and definitely not Mrs. Excuse.  Hopefully, it is you, fully awake and rearing to go forward. 

Second, take courage.  Stop the self-doubt. Quiet down those self-limiting beliefs.  Silence the fear. 

You know what my greatest fear was?  My greatest fear was to be the smart kid that never made it.  For sometime in my 20’s and 30’s I was so afraid of messing up my career that I thought kept messing it up. 

I went from one unrelated profession after another. I was in banking, a recruiter, I was a counselor, I was in sales, was trained in the call center business, I ran a business, I was even an OFW at some point.  All good professions, but there was no focus, I was cruising along, there was no plan.  Or so I thought. 

Then one day, I responded to a very odd job ad from someone I trust.  It just says, I need to have a valid US Visa for the project and that the details of the project will be revealed only to the person who will be chosen to join it.  It was so non-threatening that even I who am always afraid to say yes to opportunities sent my resume.  Lo and behold.  I was chosen to do the project.  You know what the project entailed?  It entailed counseling, US culture bridging, an experience being homesick even.  Something just clicked. I was grateful to have been given the opportunity.  I thought I was messing up. All the while I was being prepared for something.  

Do not be afraid to make mistakes because the only mistake is to not learn from them.

Lastly, aim to morph into somebody who contributes to others.  You know how children always wants to give flowers, drawings, hand made gifts no matter how simple they are? Their nature is so giving, and always wanting to make the people they love happy. 

Sometimes when our responsibility is only to ourselves, once our momentum is challenged, we can give up easily, because it is just you.  In contrast, when we know that our growth, our good fortune, our self development helps others too, we find a reason to fight the good fight.  Is your transformation going to make your child’s life better because it will empower him and show him a good example? Is your transformation going to inspire people at work to be more creative and more engaged? Will it send people a message that if you can do it, they can too?  Is your transformation a testimony to your faith? Is your transformation going to show people who have self doubt to start believing in themselves?

Live with intention, take courage and aim to contribute to others. 

Sometimes we think of transformation as being bigger, better, more. For me, transformation is simply preparing to see my future self in the mirror and say “Oh there you are.  I’ve always thought you’d be this way”.

I hope we all face our future selves with the eye of recognition that we are the person we were meant to be.