Two caterpillars were crawling along when a butterfly flew overhead.
One of the caterpillars looked up and said,
“You’ll never get me up in one of those things!”What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.
—Richard Bach
This little caterpillar is one of my new role models. The world is changing fast, and sometimes I feel small and a bit clueless. He’s a great reminder to keep trudging along and trust the process of life.
There’s an old American saying:
There are three types of people in the world:
- Those who make things happen,
- Those who watch things happen, and
- Those who say, “What happened?”
I don’t know about you, but I’m each of these in different parts of my life. There are some areas where I try to make a difference, and there are areas where I have no control but try to watch what is going on. Yet the world is so complex I’m confident there will be some surprises… times when I say, “What happened?” And that’s all right too. I’ll keep trudging along and see how it all turns out.
Having a bit of humility and a sense of humor helps a lot. 
25 comments ↓
Jean I love this.
A spoonful of each type mixed gently makes a good stew!
I try to tell my kids how far I’ve come from a non-electric typewriter, but I suspect that’s the wrong attitude. It does, at times, seem to feel as if I can’t learn anything more — or, more
accurately, I’m just not INTERESTED. That’s how I feel about
listening to music on Ipods….I listen to music constantly while at home, but I instinctively feel that people always having their own personal music piped into their own ears — which no one else can hear — is weird. Am I wrong about this?
How adorable! Where can I get one of those caterpillars? Disney World? Toys R Us? You don’t suppose they were real living caterpillars? Life is full of surprises.
Great post – especially for a Monday morning. The caterpillar quote was precious. I remember when we first got a computer over ten years ago and I was just like the caterpillar who said “You’ll never get me up on those things!”
As to Jody’s question – I have an ipod and wonder why – I’d rather have the music surround me than funnel it into my ear by those “things”. Feels as comfortable and nature as cramming a thong between cheeks – not!
suzens last blog post..Cool Change
Grannymar,
Thanks.
Jody,
I don’t have an Ipod and have no desire for one. I prefer quiet and sometimes wear comfortable noise suppressors, so I appreciate the people using Ipods because they’re not inflicting their preferences in music on me.
bikehikebabe,
The photographer says the pictures were taken in the Frozen Head Natural Area & State Park, Morgan County, Tennessee, USA. 23 August 2007.
suzen,
I don’t know that much about Ipods. Do you have to wear earbuds? Can you use comfortable headphones instead?
Jean, I am strictly of the second type. I do not want to be either of the other two.
“There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly.” – Richard Buckminster Fuller.
If I had been either of the other two types, I would have never become a butterfly! I am sure that Conrad will take that to his crap machine now.
Jody, I would rather that the other guy use his own music piped into his ear than be forced to listen to say something like acid rock when I am keen on listening to Frank Sinatra. I however would indeed like to hear my choice of music, without head phones. I feel claustrophobic wearing them.
rummusers last blog post..My Friends Are Convinced That I am Over The Hill.
rummuser,
I think you missed the point. The world is so complicated we can’t keep informed of everything that is happening. Just think of the reaction to the Russian monument, “Why didn’t we know about this before?” Well, there are a lot of things going on in the world that we don’t know about. It’s not that the information isn’t there, but as the Russian monument experience points out, a lot of time we don’t even know that it exists.
I think the story behind the Russian monument is fascinating, and it took me a long time to do the digging. Our time is finite and we can’t do that for everything.
rummuser,
“I am strictly of the second type.” One of my husband’s and my favorite expressions is, “Our BS detector is better than that.”
“I do not want to be either of the other two.” Like it or not, a great deal of humility is in order for all of us.
Agreed. I still retain my right to call myself a butterfly.
rummusers last blog post..A Blonde Does Not A Bimbo Make.
rummuser,
Sure. No problem. For now I personally will stick with the caterpillar. He’s too cute to give up.
I love the quote, the photos and the three types of people. I’ve been all of them. When I was younger I made more things happen!
Tess The Bold Lifes last blog post..Mondays = 1/7 of Your Life
Tess,
Thanks.
“When I was younger I made more things happen!”
Me too.
Maybe I will pray for while sleeping my spirit flying on the roof and seeing myself in the floor with a question : “What’s happened to me? What can I do to makes people smile, so they could smile for me?”
“Okay, okay, I will change myself first (be the first to smile) with the hope the rest will change naturally”, I said in my heart.
Note: just share my dream.
tiknos last blog post..Swine Influenza – Watch Out!
When someone doesn’t have a smile, give them one.
tikno,
I believe in smiling too.
bikehikebabe,
I agree!
Those who make things happen,
Those who watch things happen, and
Those who say, “What happened?”
At certain times in my life I have used only single ideal, but there have been times when all 3 have been tumbling around together.
I really don’t know of the three I’m currently in…
Sorry I haven’t been around as much lately; personal life with my friends problems have gone ‘off the boil’ which has given me time for ME and my Uni assigments etc.
Smile for Bikehikebabe, smile for Jean, smile for Rummuser, smile for everyone here.
Jean, thank you for inspires me about “One Nice Change”. Although a very little action, believe it can make a beautiful color in life.
I’m sorry if my English not good because it was my second language.
tiknos last blog post..Swine Influenza – Watch Out!
tikno, You’re adorable.
I only know one language. Plague be upon me. Oh NO! not that!
Cathy,
It’s good having you back.
tikno,
Your English is just fine. I really appreciate you making the effort to comment. Thanks also for all the smiles.
bikehikebabe, what language would that be?
rummuser, You jest. You know I’m American. But as my daughter in Sweden says, “Remember you don’t speak English; you speak American.”
I too have difficulty with speaking English! Apparently my colonial English, is not understandable by those in the Northern Hemisphere!
Jean I have dictated most of it into the little box with the Dragon. Still having to correct things but not too much
Cathy,
). Finally she asked, “For tike a-why or for here?” Oh! No, we didn’t want take away, we wanted to eat it there. 
We went to NZ years ago and don’t remember having trouble with understanding. Now Australia was sometimes a problem. We still remember ordering food at a fast food place and the woman asked if we wanted tike a-why. Huh? My husband looked confused and she started speaking more loudly (as we all know, that helps when someone doesn’t understand
Glad your experience with Dragon is improving.
Ah, Cathy, if you want some real difficulty, try visiting hard core Scotland. We in India do not have any difficulty with Australians, thanks to the great affinity due to cricket and its commentators. I went to a school for a while run by Australian missionaries and picked up some hilarious things from them too!
rummusers last blog post..Do We Stop To Appreciate And Smell The Roses?
rummuser and Cathy,
I’ve watched some BBC series based in Scotland (Lord of the Manor) and Ireland (Balleykissangel). Some of the dialog was impossible to understand, but enough was comprehensible that I could follow the plots.
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