Butching the Butterfly

I’ve always said you can’t butch a butterfly. Trust me, I’ve tried so many times. I was a sensitive kid. Hell, I’m a sensitive adult. No shame in admitting that. 

Everything in my life was built to try and take me down. Harden me. Make me bitter. I’ve lived a life no one should have. Like many of us, I was made to grow up too soon. 

Now, I wake up every day and choose kindness when I could choose violence. Quite frankly, choosing violence would be easy since a lot of my life contained violence no one should know. I never chose the easy route. I chose the route that was the most me. I never chose the blade forged in blood, but the shield forged in fire.

I’m not talking about opening the door for someone. That’s small stuff. Kind, absolutely. But it’s the bare minimum to me. I mean, leaving a $50 tip on a $30 meal. I mean sending messages of light and support to someone who's just been victimized by bullying or harassment. 

So what happened to me? Well, I’ll tell you, I learned that to survive in this world, that I needed a thick steel coating to protect the squishy softness beneath it. The man who had every reason to be bitter and choose darkness…simply didn’t. Isn’t that something? For me, it’s everything.

Instead, I chose to be a lighthouse. There is light down the road. You just have to be able to see its glimmer.

© Dereck Pritchard, 2026. All Rights Reserved. Okay to share in full with clear credit to the author. Partial excerpts require written permission.