December 29

Even good, beautiful things must come to an end. Give your dead dreams the dignity of a good burial.

A few years ago I was on a walk, and as I glanced down at the side of the road I noticed a beautiful butterfly sitting perfectly still on a leaf. I don’t know why it caught my attention, but as I studied it I realized that it wasn’t resting or disguising itself, it was dead.

In that moment I was moved, and decided to bury the butterfly. It didn’t seem right to just leave something so beautiful to rot in the sun.

After I buried it, I continued on with my walk and began to think about my past dreams and ambitions. They were beautiful pursuits, and mattered to me deeply. But, they were not to be. However, instead of burying them, I let the rot in the open because I wasn’t willing to let them go. As a result, it took years to get over some of them.

Your dead dreams deserve the dignity of a decent burial. It’s important to mark the moment and to choose to move on from them. If you don’t, you leave them out in the open and you may never fully get over them. Beautiful things deserve the dignity of a decent burial.

Question: Are you still holding onto a past dream that didn’t pan out? Maybe it’s time to bury the butterfly.