THREE FEET FROM GOLD
















  

Pic.: Bhushan Thakkar


“Never make a major decision in a valley.”


From the book ‘Three Feet from Gold’ by Sharon L. Lachter and Greg S. Reid with Napoleon Hill Foundation.


When our chips are down – when we stand and stare from the bottom of our valleys -   everything around us looks gloomy and insurmountable to us…


The time when we are overwhelmed by fear or grief is the worst time to take any major decision for our lives… We need to stand there, mustering all the courage we can, and allow the time to heal us… the fear to dissolve, the grief to pass… Yes, we should wait for the Sun to emerge from the dark clouds…


And, no one knew this truth better than Napoleon Hill did. The time was during ‘The Great Depression’. People, all over the world, particularly in America, had hit the rock bottom of their lives… They had lost every penny they possessed, and they were throwing themselves out to their building windows with no hope of a future… It was during this time, that Napoleon Hill came out with his famous philosophy of power of human mind – of desire, faith, decision, persistence, imagination and Master Mind Alliance – and, inspired millions of people not to give up hope, not to take major decisions of their lives when they stood at the pits of their lives…


Yes, the time when we find ourselves in our deep valleys is the time to cool off, to hold on there and see things in fresh perspectives… Hope, always, hides itself behind the dark clouds – despair, frustration, fear and grief. It rewards every soul who waits… yes, a little longer… Yes, most often, we are just ‘three feet from the gold’ we seek… And, quitting from there can be one of life’s greatest tragedies and regrets!


Teaching us the priceless lesson on ‘Persistence’, Napoleon Hill shares in ‘Think & Grow Rich’ the story of U.R. Darby, who made millions in selling insurance in America. But, the stupendous success of Darby had come from one of the hardest lessons he had learnt while he was still young.


During the ‘Gold Rush’ in California, Darby’s uncle, too, was caught by the great gold fever, and, accompanied by his young nephew, had gone to ‘dig’ gold in California. His uncle borrowed huge sums of money for equipment and machinery needed to mine gold. They were happy to find gold and, with that, they paid off their debt. And, suddenly, the gold disappeared! They dug more and more and more, but in vain. It seemed, it was all over… and, the mine had gone dry. Frustrated and crestfallen, Darby’s uncle took the major decision: to sell off the equipment and machinery to a junk-man and return home!


The junk-man, who happened to be a smart-man, hired an expert to study the mine. The expert pointed that, just three feet from where Darby’s uncle had stopped lay gold worth billions of dollars!


So, the legend has it that the junk-man took home those billions just by digging out three feet from the quitting point of Darbys!


For young Darby, it was a lesson worth far more than that billion-dollar-worth gold. For, later, as he went into the business of selling insurance, he would never stop when he heard 'No' from a client… He would refuse to believe that the mine was dry. Yes, he knew that the gold lay just three feet from ‘No’!


Let me conclude with another gem from the great treasure of Napoleon Hill:


More gold has been mined from the thoughts of men

 than has ever been taken from the earth.


Let’s not quit, dear friends… No, not when we are at the pit of our valleys!


GERALD D’CUNHA

Comments

Nitin Purav said…
True, if only we can hang on a little while more! Nitin Purav
Anonymous said…
Keep writing. Vipul

Popular posts from this blog

MUTHU KODI KAWARI HADA

WHEN A BIRD IS ALIVE, IT EATS ANTS... WHEN THE BIRD DIES, ANTS EAT THE BIRD

"WE CHOOSE OUR JOYS AND SORROWS LONG BEFORE WE EXPERIENCE THEM."

THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...