Solve Absolutely Everything You Currently Face

There are numerous well known happenings in the year 1847 among them Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the U.S government, The Treaty of Cahuenga ends the fighting in the Mexican-American War in California and The United States issues its first postage stamps. OK, so maybe they aren’t that well known. The year 1847 is known where I live here in Utah as the beginnings of our state. It’s the year the Mormon Pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley and started to settle the then, barren wilderness. There was a fascinating real estate transaction that took place near Sacramento, CA that year. A rancher, with the gold gleam in his eye, sold his farm and scurried south to chase rumors of gold.

The buyer built a mill on the stream that ran through the land. In January the following year his daughter played with some sand that she took from the race way. As she sifted the sand through her fingers by the fire, a visitor noticed a shimmer and upon investigation gold was discovered. Since that time, it’s been estimated that Sutter’s Mill has produced over $38 million.

How often do we look for our “gold” off on some new endeavor. Or maybe we complain that we can’t get ours because we have the wrong job, or unlucky, or don’t know the ‘right’ people? Maybe we lament that we don’t have the education, the resources or the brains or you think “you need money to make money”. Notice that it wasn’t the cunning of Colonel Sutter that resulted in his owning one of the most profitable gold mines in the world. He wasn’t even looking for gold and had no idea he’d be blessed with that bounty.

Consider this analogy that was shared with me by my good friend Dr. Paul Jenkins: Think about the acorn. It doesn’t become a great oak by running around searching for leaf molecules and bark molecules to build the tree. “It simply exists right where it is and uses the resources immediately available to it.” Dr. Paul says, “The resources you need to solve absolutely everything you currently face are right there around you.” Just in case you didn’t get that: the resources you need to solve absolutely everything you currently face are right there around you. Dr. Paul continues, “Start with what you know to do and then the next steps will become evident.”

Now, look around you. See the people. Talk to them about your dreams and ideas. You never know who will have just the right connection to help you take that next step.

True greatness is starting where you are, using what you have, doing what you can. ~Arthur Ashe