What can a butterfly teach us about life?
By Hope
@1hopefulman (45120)
Canada
November 1, 2017 2:55pm CST
Who has not been attracted by a beautiful, colorful butterfly flitting from flower to flower to suck some sweet nectar.
Some interesting facts about butterflies:
Their wings act like solar panels to absorb the heat from the sun.
A female butterfly can lay up to 100 eggs and more.
The butterfly egg does not hatch a butterfly but a larva (caterpillar), and then enters the pupa (chrysalis) stage and through metamorphosis becomes an adult butterfly.
Most species of butterflies have a life expectancy of only a few weeks.
During a typical workday a butterfly can pollinate hundreds of flowers.
As fragile as they may look, they are able to travel long distances.
They are very resilient and can still fly even with up to 70 % of their wings gone.
What can we learn from a butterfly about life:
We need to be busy.
We need to be productive.
We need to look our best.
The variety in color is not important as we are all beautiful.
Is there something from the life of a butterfly that we can apply to our lives?
Elusive Butterfly" is a popular song by Bob Lind released in 1966, which reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was also recorded and released in 1966...
19 people like this
20 responses
@peavey (16936)
• United States
1 Nov 17
I was just reading about the Monarch butterfly that had such a long and lazy migration this year. We had tons of them. As I read about how they go through their life cycles, the one thing that struck me was that the entire cycle of life is not made by one butterfly. The monarchs that migrate from Mexico are not the same ones that migrated to Canada the year before. The life cycle occurs during the migratory period.
What can we learn from that? Relax. Life will have its way. God has plans that we cannot change, no matter how smart we think we are. Sure, some butterflies are lost along the way. Some get frozen or eaten or decorate a windshield, but the entirety its life belongs to the cycle.
6 people like this
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
2 Nov 17
I saw an unusual number of monarch butterflies this year and I was really surprised. I don't know the reason and I don't know the reason for all that God does or allows.
But as you say, relax and all will work out and will be made clear one day.
3 people like this
because, you know, butterflies just eat a lot. sleep in cocoon, and then will become butterfly. without any effort, they become pretty for eating a lot. @1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
1 Nov 17
Yes, but since their life is very short, the male butterfly has to find a mate pretty quickly and he has to be very persistent and expends a lot of energy trying to get the lady butterfly interested. That's why he needs the nectar for energy but while taking care of that necessity, he pollinates many flowers and plants. 
3 people like this
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36850)
• Pamplona, Spain
1 Nov 17
Their wings are like solar panels yes.
There is one butterfly that is quite rare here and it is the only one that will open its wings to the full.
The white cabbage ones flit around a lot and they close up their wings and don´t let you take a photo of them so easily.
Some of them are so very fast also.
5 people like this
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
2 Nov 17
Interesting! I guess one would need a very sophisticated camera to capture one with its wings wide open.
3 people like this
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
2 Nov 17
@lovinangelsinstead21 Wow! Thanks for sharing. I don't think I ever took a picture of a butterfly. I will have to try the next time I see one which might be next year as the weather is no longer pleasant these days.
3 people like this
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36850)
• Pamplona, Spain
2 Nov 17
@1hopefulman
I suppose so but I managed to get the multicoloured one after about two hours of patient waiting and trying on my camera.
4 people like this
@ridingbet (66854)
• Philippines
2 Nov 17
from ugly (caterpillar to pupa) to becoming the most beautiful insect... we should be like that, emerging victorious after several downfalls.
4 people like this
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
2 Nov 17
Exactly! 
Romans 12:2 (Easy-to-Read Version) 2 Don’t change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but let God change you inside with a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to understand and accept what God wants for you. You will be able to know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect.
What is interesting is that the Greek word translated as "change" in this translation and in many translations as "“be transformed” at Romans 12:2 comes from me·ta·mor·pho'o. Like the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly, Christians need to make some complete changes in a number of ways.
The first is from what we were to what we should be to reflect God's glory.
Romans 12:2 (Easy-to-Read Version) 2 Don’t change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but let God change you inside with a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to understand and accept what God wants for you. You will be able to know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect.
What is interesting is that the Greek word translated as "change" in this translation and in many translations as "“be transformed” at Romans 12:2 comes from me·ta·mor·pho'o. Like the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly, Christians need to make some complete changes in a number of ways.
The first is from what we were to what we should be to reflect God's glory.4 people like this
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
1 Nov 17
It makes us appreciate our lives even more, knowing that some creatures live such a short life. Butterflies contribute to making the environment more beautiful and so we can learn to do the same. We can beautify our surroundings.
2 people like this
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
8 Nov 17
@ramapo17 I feel the same! Here is another interesting point a butterfly can teach us. Usually we find butterflies more attractive than caterpillars and so we can change into someone that will be more attractive and less destructive to their neighbors.
1 person likes this
@ramapo17 (30441)
• Melbourne, Florida
8 Nov 17
@1hopefulman Seeing a butterfly always puts a smile on my face. They are so beautiful and each one is unique.
1 person likes this
@Daelii (5619)
• United States
1 Nov 17
One super neat fact about butterflies/ caterpillars is that the butterfly does remember things from being a caterpillar. So the question over memories/thoughts from one physical form to another can transcend changing forms.
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
1 Nov 17
Interesting! But how are they able to know that?
3 people like this
@Daelii (5619)
• United States
2 Nov 17
@1hopefulman One of the studies did a music/ light test. To see how they reacted as a butterfly compared to the experiences they had as a caterpillar. It was rather clear they could remember the variations in it.
3 people like this
@Daelii (5619)
• United States
2 Nov 17
@1hopefulman id one of the studies. I know they did a few more about it.
Butterflies and moths are well known for their striking metamorphosis from crawling caterpillars to winged adults.
4 people like this
@buenavida (9984)
• Sweden
2 Nov 17
They are a wonderful gift from our creator, and show what a Great Artist He is.. 
3 people like this
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
2 Nov 17
That is a very interesting connection that a butterfly can teach us something about the very Creator of life. I'm reminded of
Romans 1:20 (Easy-to-Read Version) 20 There are things about God that people cannot see—his eternal power and all that makes him God. But since the beginning of the world, those things have been easy for people to understand. They are made clear in what God has made. So people have no excuse for the evil they do.
3 people like this
@eileenleyva (27560)
• Philippines
2 Nov 17
My romance with butterflies started when I took an interest in photography. I had to have a beautiful subject. Right there in my Mommy;s garden was a perfect creature. A butterfly. I took several shots, to my Mommy's dismay, because I didn't take a shot of her. Sigh.
When my daughter became a biologist, she turned my kitchen into a nursery. I gathered as much tri-foliate chleome, the caterpillar food, and watch the yellow-wing-tip butterfly grow each day, hide into a cocoon, and metamorphose into a full-grown butterfly.
I specifically adorned my garden with flower plants, and allowed the tri-foliate chleome to grow, so I can have as many butterflies fluttering. Ha ha
But are you aware that there is such a thing as a butterfly effect?
4 people like this
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
2 Nov 17
That is a wonderful experience to be able to observe butterflies go through their life cycle close at hand.
Yes, I'm aware of the theory of the butterfly effect.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search For other uses, see Butterfly effect (disambiguation). A plot of Lorenz's strange attractor for values ?=28, s = 10, ß = 8/3. The butterfly effect or sensitive dependence on initial conditio
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
3 Nov 17
We also have one in Montreal and the visit is something else.
1 person likes this
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
4 Nov 17
@Bluedoll I'm not sure if it is policed and there were lots of children. The butterfies are everywhere and some may even land on you.
What do you mean about it being deadly?
http://buzzmtl.com http://vivezmtl.com
2 people like this
@Bluedoll (16773)
• Canada
3 Nov 17
@1hopefulman I had as much fun watching the people as I did the butterflies. Is it policed? When I visited it was quiet and sometimes deadly. 
2 people like this
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
2 Nov 17
That is so true! I hope you have a pleasant day.
3 people like this
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
2 Nov 17
@LadyDuck Any reason why some might have a week's vacation at this time?
3 people like this
@LadyDuck (471508)
• Switzerland
2 Nov 17
@1hopefulman We had to go out grocery shopping, it's incredible how many people there were in the stores. I think that many got a week vacation.
3 people like this
@cahaya1983 (11116)
• Malaysia
2 Nov 17
I've always seen them as very fragile creatures, but after reading this apparently there's more about them that I didn't know!
3 people like this
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
2 Nov 17
Yes, we learn so much more when we scratch beneath the surface. We can learn so much from this beautiful and short-living creature.The wings are now being studied so that we can apply some of the secrets.
Engineers are seeking to copy the texture of the Blue Morpho’s wing to make high-tech coatings that are resistant to dirt and water. What is the butterfly’s secret?
4 people like this
@ramapo17 (30441)
• Melbourne, Florida
18 Nov 17
@1hopefulman We can learn more about almost everything if we dig a little deeper.
3 people like this
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
2 Nov 17
Excellent point! Therefore we should never give up or quit!
4 people like this
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
2 Nov 17
"Many species of adult butterflies live only one to two weeks, during which time they must produce a new generation. Some species, such as the familiar monarch butterfly, however, can live as long as six months or even longer in the wild." Wikipedia
Why do butterflies live such a short life? Could it be so that we learn to appreciate life?
3 people like this
@peachpurple (13962)
• Malaysia
3 Nov 17
@1hopefulman yeah, I felt butterflies are so pitiful
2 people like this
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
27 Dec 17
One day, we will all enjoy that, along with health and love!
2 people like this
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
28 Dec 17
@db20747 Didn't I respond here yesterday? Weird?
2 people like this
@db20747 (43440)
• Washington, District Of Columbia
28 Dec 17
@1hopefulman May I ask. R U jehova's witness
2 people like this
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
6 Nov 17
They are beautiful and they give us hope that life life will be beautiful one day. 
1 person likes this
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
2 Nov 17
So everything we do or do not do can effect someone else in some way.
2 people like this
@creativeaashish (2609)
• Kathmandu, Nepal
29 Dec 17
Well, Great! Yeah! Thank you for this wonderful discussion! Yeah! We can learn a lot from butterflies! I knew some today! You are great! Thank you very much!
2 people like this
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
30 Dec 17
Glad you enjoyed the discussion. If we observe nature carefully there is a lot that we can learn.
1 person likes this
@creativeaashish (2609)
• Kathmandu, Nepal
31 Dec 17
@1hopefulman Teah! There’s more than enough! Actually Nature is our teacher and the workshop too!
Happy New Year to you !! Wish you best of luck for everything!
1 person likes this
