What a timely post! This is sooo good, Reba. And you really need a twitter button so people can tweet about your great posts!!!
Three Feet From Gold!
Back during the California gold rush, R.U. Darby and his uncle set out to strike it rich. A relative had discovered what was believed to be a vein of gold. So Darby and his uncle set out to mine it. At first, it appeared they had a prosperous find but it soon disappeared. They searched frantically for where the vein picked up again but finally concluded they were in a hopeless situation. They sold their equipment to a junk dealer and headed home to their old, poor life in defeat.
The junk dealer consulted an engineer and began mining the spot again. He quickly discovered the elusive vein that contained millions of dollars’ worth of gold. He instantly became rich. Where did he find it? Exactly three feet from where Darby and his uncle stopped digging!
Wow what a story! I’m sure you feel that way with your own journey. You are digging and mining. You are sooooooo close to breaking through to your own personal gold mine and yet you give up in defeat. You settle to return to your poor, yet clearly seen lives in defeat. Oh how I want to tell you, “Wait! Just dig another three feet!!”
Even worse, you may be agonizing through a lackluster job. You work at it. And work at it until you are ready to pull your hair
out, throw in the towel, sell your equipment to a junk dealer and quit. You want to run in the opposite direction when you see your work colleagues coming. Nothing you’ve tried has resulted in a breakthrough. What’s the use?! All your efforts are in vain. Why not just sell your resources and go work as a greeter for Wal-Mart, right? Ohhhhhh…. But you are sooooooo close! Three feet away from breaking through to a vein of purest gold!
Hang on. Keep digging, because you are a mere three feet from gold!! That’s the exact height of the net on a tennis court! That’s ONE yard on the football field! That’s three of your brother’s favorite shoes! Hang on!!! You’re almost there!!!
One more shovel full of musky, dusty, black dirt will mean the difference between success and… ummm… you know. Go for the gold!!!! It’s what you do! You owe to yourself to keep digging. My hope and prayer for you is that your shovel always be filled with the last dirt between you and a vein of gold!!
What’s causing you to want to stop digging? Have you hit the rock and feel you’re at a dead end? Need help digging? Share it here. Or you can email me directly at reba@magellanlifecoaching.com.
[...] pursuing their dreams. Today, I want to flip the coin and discuss the other side. In my blog post, Three Feet From Gold, I talk about how close a person may be to their dream when they abandon [...]