The resilience... of the Gold Rush?
“Because, you know, resilience – if you think of it in terms of the Gold Rush, then you’d be pretty depressed right now because the last nugget of gold would be gone. But the good thing is, with innovation, there isn’t a last nugget. Every new thing creates two new questions and two new opportunities.” -Â Jeff Bezos
Well, if you didn’t know it The Gold Rush is over. Yes, the legends live… and the story inspires… it began in 1848 at Sutter’s Mill, a lumber mill in California where Gold was discovered. Once the word got out they came in droves… the “forty-niners” or gold seekers looking to make a quick fortune. Getting to this land of milk and honey was no easy task at the time… these immigrants had to suffer substantial hardship to reach the “mother lode.” Sill, they came… many found what they were looking for… Gold, and lots of it. 300,000 people showed up. Half arrived by sea, and half by land. This is the event that put San Francisco on the map! A small Podunk of a town prior, the place went from 200 to 36,000 residents lickity split.
I think some of these stories must add to the mystique of the field of Geology. Prosperity is often associated with high adventure whenever there is $$ involved. The Gold Rush is but one example of the valuable resources that we’ve discovered within the earth… found… mapped… mined… and utilized.
Back to Bezos… resilience… using the term to describe the ability of a body to recover from stress or strain… whenever we utilize a resource at a rate that is faster than mother nature can replace it, it’s not considered renewable… maybe that’s ok, while I care about our environment, I’m personally not all that caught up on this question…. except for knowing that we should strive to be good stewards!
Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Fortunately, we have innovation… the ability to create… adapt… change… and invent. One thing we look to from innovation is value… for if it’s not all that valuable to someone, innovation is simply novelty, right? And that, in a nutshell, is why innovation is the greatest nugget of Gold you’ll ever find!
Gold is a very valuable commodity. What do you feel is most valuable to you today?
Geology LITE is a post series here at I’m Just Thinkin’. It’s a light-hearted view of just about anything related to the earth. As an Earth Scientist I enjoy learning and sharing about the wonderful creation that God has given us to enjoy during our life here. You can read the other Geology LITE posts by clicking here.
My faith in God is most important. It puts everything else into perspective. My family life is better; my obedience to Him is stronger which makes my life simpler and fuller.
I love the idea of resilience as recovering from stress and strain. There, too, Jesus is the great healer of all things–physical, emotional, spiritual.
Loved this post, Chris.
Yep, everything else seems to fall into place when we keep God first!
My wife is the most valuable thing to me. She’s a prize I was lucky to find and God blessed me with her.
Awww, that’s incredibly sweet Joe, she’s fortunate to have you 🙂
My salvation and my family. Both are very important to me.
Very nice Adam, love that too!!!