virgin islands scene

Life is short, but there is always time enough for courtesy.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
 

 

Tuesday, December 3, 1996

How many trees are in the seed?

A tiny seed becomes a tree. That tree produces many more seeds, which become trees, which produce seeds, and so on. So how many trees are in the seed?

There are no trees in the seed. Crack it open, and you won’t find even a single tree. The seed contains only the idea of a tree, the potential for a tree, and the plans for building that tree. The tree itself appears only when the seed is nourished with water and soil and sunlight.

The people you meet, the new things you learn, the experiences you live, the choices you make, the days and moments of your life -- all are seeds with limitless potential to bear fruit. But only when placed in fertile ground and nourished.

That’s where you come in. Though you can’t always control the seeds that fall into your life, you can control the way they’re planted and cared for. In every moment is a lifetime of possibilities. Think of that! You can change the course of the rest of your life right now, this very instant. By deciding which seeds to plant, which choices to make, which relationships to nurture. By giving the seeds of opportunity a fertile soil in which to grow.

— Ralph Marston

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Copyright ©1996 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. All Rights Reserved. The Daily Motivator is provided for your personal, non-commercial use only. Other than personal sharing, please do not re-distribute without permission.