Screened sieves or pans with small holes in their bottoms are still used to this day by seekers of gold in streams all over the world. Amateurs, hobbyists, day trippers and bona fide believers all dipping, sifting and hoping to find a nugget (or multiples thereof) washed down from somewhere upstream and, to their point of view, just waiting to be found.
“Eureka!!!” That’s the traditional shout of the panner for gold upon the discovery of such, although I’ve been told it’s not in much use any longer. There are too many claim jumpers around, too many other people who will rush over to work that spot for the savvy prospector to risk uttering a sound. Rather a shame, I’d say, not being able to shout excitedly after bending over for so long.
In the course of my life I have participated in the start up of several businesses that involved partners. From the very first get together it often felt like everyone was panning their stream of thoughts looking for that million dollar idea. I knew people who spent days, months and then years examining every idea they could dredge up and evaluating its merit solely on its ability to produce gold. If an idea wasn’t a money maker, then they had no use for it. These were not particularly happy people. They were, however, endlessly busy. They would brag to one another about how little sleep they were getting. I was not happy either. But I took comfort in knowing that many other people were driving themselves even harder than I was and coming up just as empty. Meager comfort. Mean spirited and small. But I took it anyways.
I had to leave that life. Panning for gold left me spiritually bankrupt.
It was and is a soul killer.
This is now my daily reminder:
When I equate my self worth to my net worth, I have lost my way.
I hope my hard learned lesson is of some use to you too.
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