The Exit is the Exercise!

I was scrolling when I landed on a video of a cocoon.

At first, it looked like nothing, just a small shell hanging there, quiet and closed like the world had paused around it. If I had seen it in real life, I probably would have walked right past it. But the video kept playing, and I kept watching.

Then it started.

A tiny split appeared. Almost invisible. And from that small opening came movement, slow and strained, butdeliberate. It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t smooth. It was work! The kind of effort that makes you lean closer to the screen and hold your breath without realizing it.And I felt it!

That urge to help that is innate inside of me was rising even though it was a video. The reflex to fix was rising. That voice in my mind saying, somebody just open it. Just make it easier. It’s struggling.

The longer I watched, the more I realized this wasn’t a crisis. This was the process. Ah ha, revelation!!!

The cocoon didn’t open like a door. It opened like a training session. Push. Pause. Push again. Rest. Press forward. The struggle wasn’t random; it was purposeful even though I didn’t fully understand the process. As I watched something inside of me was learning how to carry the thoughts and patience of what was coming next.

I watched the creature fight its way out, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how many times I have begged the Lord for an easier way. How many times I’ve wanted God to remove the pressure, speed up the timeline, soften the resistance, or simply lift me out of the tight space I was in.

While staring at that screen, it hit me: the tight space was doing something. That strain that seemed so stressful was building strength. That slow, uncomfortable push was preparing it to fly.

Then the thought came even sharper: If someone cut the cocoon, it might get out faster, but it wouldn’t be ready. The rescue would become the reason it couldn’t lift.

That’s when I had to sit with myself.

How many times have I tried to “cut my own cocoon”? I’ve done it with distractions. With impatience. With quitting too early. With settling for what feels safer because growth feels heavy. With choosing relief over readiness.

The video didn’t just show transformation. It exposed my patterns.

It reminded me that becoming often looks like struggle before it looks like beauty. Strengthening rarely feels like blessing while it’s happening. Progress can be real even when it’s slow.

As I watched that cocoon evolve, I stopped feeling sorry for the struggle and started respecting itbecause the goal isn’t only to get out. The goal is to take off.

I must remember that if I’m in a season that feels tight, slow, and difficult, maybe I’m not being denied, maybe I’m being further developed.

Maybe the pressure is producing power.

Maybe the resistance is building lift.

I am done asking only for the struggle to disappear. I’m asking for strength and wisdom to endure the process.

I don’t want an early exit that leaves me grounded.I want a full transformation that lets me fly strong.

https://substack.com/@tymekawhiteside/note/c-212635774?r=718kj4&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action