I once heard a story called, “The Moth Trapped On The Persian Rug.” This story really made me think about my own life, and how easy it is for all of us to lose perspective at times. See what you think.

One day, this moth fluttered down out of the sky and landed on a Persian rug. He landed first in the blue section of the rug and soon he became very depressed and sad. Then he fluttered a bit and landed in a part of the rug that was yellow. His spirits began to lift and he perked up. In fact his spirits perked up so much that he waltzed right into a red section of the rug. Here he began to feel angry and aggressive, stamping his little moth feet. He marched along until he found himself in a white section and instantly he shifted into an extremely peaceful and serene mood. He stayed here awhile, as this peace felt very good.

But when he got up and got moving again, he walked into the black section of the rug. Soon, he felt totally lost and frightened in the dark. He wanted to get out of the black darkness, but he had no idea how. Eventually, he found his way out of the black, and wandered into the green section of the rug. He felt very at ease and it reminded him of the trees he had slept in at night before he had landed in this color nightmare of a place.

This moth kept moving around and around on the Persian rug, falling into this color and that, provoking this emotion or that until he became just so exhausted he simply stopped, lay down, closed his little moth eyes and let go. It felt good to let go of always being at the mercy of the color he was in. He had a dream that night that he could fly.

Eventually the moth woke up and remembered from the dream that he knew how to fly. He began slowly, fluttering his wings. Soon, he lifted off the Persian rug and up, up, up he rose into the air. Eventually he was high enough to see both where he was, and where he had been. He saw, looking down, how incredibly beautiful the rug was, seen from this larger, higher perspective.

He also remembered all those separate colors and different moods. That memory made him a little nauseous and unsettled. “Why couldn’t I see all this when I was down there?” he wondered.

The story concluded that if the moth had only from the beginning known to rise high above the rug to see its larger design, he would have been able to see that he had never been trapped at all, ever, for any moment. He could have flown free at any time, he just didn’t know that he had that ability at the time. But he created the feeling of being trapped in all of those different emotions, in reaction to simple colors; it had always been a Persian rug and nobody was forcing him to feel anything.

But it was always equally true that his discovery of total and complete freedom was possible, if only the little moth could have just been able to see it.

From Me To You

I think that we all wander and travel the world in search of The Truth when The Truth is always there, right under our noses and in our hearts, all along. All we have to do is rise above ourselves to see our lives with greater clarity and perspective. And we can rise above anything, flying to freedom any time we choose.

Do you ever feel like that little moth some days, flitting from one emotion to the next, or feeling trapped by your circumstances? How could you rise above your circumstances and fly to freedom today?

Please share your thoughts in the comments below.