Use these three words - failure butterfly sun

Use these three words - failure butterfly sun

James sat on the sidewalk with his head in his hands, elbow leaning on his knees. Tears ran down his dirty face. “Stupid older kids.” He grumbled. “They don't know anything. I'm just as good as they are at kick ball. Why didn't anyone pick me to play?” James and his seven year old mind could not understand the failure of the teenage boys to pick him. “I can run fast just like they can; maybe even faster.” He wiped the tears from his face, smearing the dirt into a streak of mud.

A butterfly fluttered down in front of James awkwardly. “Awww, what's wrong little butterfly? Something wrong with your wing?” At that moment James had a devilish idea. He shot up and ran into his house. Moments later he came running back out with a magnifying glass in his hand.

“I wonder if this really works.” He'd heard some of the big kids talking about how they'd used the sun and a magnifying glass to start fires and torture things like ants and beetles. He looked up at the sun and held out his magnifying glass. Nothing. “I must not have it in the right spot.” He moved it around here and there until he saw some sun rays coming from the magnifying glass onto the ground. Excited, he jerked his hand and lost the position. “Dang it.” he grumbled. He moved it around again and found the spot, now to get it so that it was aiming to the butterfly. With a little more maneuvering James found the sweet spot. “I wonder how long I have to wait.” He waited and waited and waited. James sighed. Just as he was about to give up, he noticed some smoke coming from the butterfly's wing. A smile spread across his face. He held that magnifying glass in place moving it slightly when he wanted to help the fire spread faster. Soon there was no butterfly left. “I wonder if this works on big kids.”



Failure can mean so many things even to the same person. Some see failure as not succeeding at bring in enough money. Some see it as never finding the right person or not being able to hold a job. For me, failure means that I have given up. As long as I keep working on making myself and my life better, then I haven't failed. The moment I stop growing and moving forward is the time I have failed. I have done the best I can do with the circumstances that I had at the time. Maybe it wasn't the best in someone else's eyes but what others think does not define me, my successes or my failures. There were times when the best I could do was just get out of bed. That doesn't mean that I failed; at least I got out of bed. I refuse to give up. There has to be more to my life than what I have made it so far and I intend to find out what it is. I have only failed, if I give up.



A little caterpillar found a twig to climb. It climbed and climbed and climbed. Just when it thought it couldn't go any more, it realized it was where it needed to be. Exhausted from the climb the caterpillar decided it needed a rest so it started building a cocoon. It rested and rested and rested. When it was no longer tired, it pushed its way from the cocoon to discover that it had turned into a butterfly. The butterfly flew off into the sun feeling beautiful and renewed.