“It only takes one,” CoolTrainerRyan says in his Pokémon card opening live streams. He’s talking about booster packs, of course. One card can recoup the cost of an entire box. One pack can make a four-hour slog worth it. Life is the same.
Sometimes, the gods won’t be generous. Karma won’t give you anything. Week after week, it’s more bad news after bad news. Until, one day, it isn’t. It only takes one. One project approval. One job offer. One email from the right person.
It’s ironic, but: The same attitude that keeps a degenerate gambler inserting coins into a slot machine can, sometimes, allow you to walk through hell until you make it back to paradise. The key is knowing the difference—but when it comes to life, “it only takes one” can be a perfectly valid reason to get up again the next morning.