Hey, all. Eons ago I started reading The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben and I recently picked it up again and was struck by this amazing statistic: Every tree leaves behind, on average, one tree to replace it. In other words, of all the thousands and millions of seeds a tree produces in its lifetime, an average of exactly ONE grows into a tree. What happens to the other seeds? They are eaten by animals or broken down by bacteria or fungi.
This passage made me think about the statistics of success in my human hishtadlus in shidduchim. I must have made thousands of contacts at this point in relation to shidduchim (maybe that is an overestimate but I’ve been single for about ten years and have sent out my resume, called, texted, emailed, met with people on countless occasions, plus the numberless contacts other people have made on my behalf) and this is all to be”H produce ONE marriage.
A tree doesn’t get discouraged when year after year its nuts are eaten by deer or whatever. It just produces and produces and produces. I know, we’re lovely humans, not trees, but still I am finding it helpful in this moment to use this somewhat calming metaphor. I’d be happy if it helped you too 🙂 .
