A seed from a pine tree found itself eaten by a squirrel, or maybe a blue jay. The seed believed that this was a terrible way have its future ruined. Now, the seed, so full of potential, was stuck in the stomach of an animal or a bird. Soon, however, the seed was dispersed by the creature that ate the seed, and she found herself deposited in a crack in a huge rock.
“Great.” The seed thought. “Now I am really stuck. I would like to have been dropped on that beautiful valley floor below me. There I would have had room to plant myself, become established, and grow. Here I am stuck in this rock!”
The seed had nowhere else to go. She was stuck where she was. She had no choice except to dig in a little deeper into the broken place around where she had found herself deposited in the rock.
Soon, she broke through her shell that surrounded her. From there, once her own shell was broken, she sprouted new growth.
Next, she put down some roots, and she grew upwards towards the sun.
She now realized that she had not been stuck in this place, a hard and rocky place, that looked like a place where nothing could ever grow. She discovered she could grow where she was planted. In time, she grew into a beautiful pine tree.
Passersby were amazed at her resilience. “How did that tree grow out of a rock?” they would ask as they walked by.
