A tiny seed has every reason to feel hopeless. It falls to the ground and cannot move anyplace else. It gets trampled. It gets cold and wet. It gets buried.

And yet, in spite of all that, it does what it can. It sends out tiny, frail stems toward the warm sunlight. It cannot move around to find food, so it takes what it has where it is, and makes optimum use of it. It sends roots into the ground to anchor itself.

Growing just a little bit each day, it becomes a seedling and then a small tree. The wind blows, the droughts come, the seasons change, and through it all the young tree perseveres. It does what it can where it is. And in time, that adds up to quite an accomplishment. It becomes a tall, sturdy, beautiful tree, producing more seeds which can eventually add up to an entire forest.

Though the tiny seed may appear hopeless and insignificant, it is not. It does what it must, when it can, and manifests its grand possibilities.

When you are tempted to feel hopeless, think of the tiny seed. It is far less capable, far less flexible, far less resourceful than you, and yet it perseveres until it has transformed into a magnificent creation. Always, there is always hope for anyone who has the courage to accept it.

~Ralph Marston