One of my biggest fears is giving up one step too early. Finding out that if I had just waited it out a little bit longer, I would’ve made it.

I think God, the Universe, a higher entity, whatever and whoever you choose to believe in, use those final moments to test your patience the most.

A story I think about whenever I’m trying to hold out is one that took place during the Colorado Gold Rush of 1858.

Thousands of young men and woman were making their way to Colorado to get their piece of the pie. When they heard gold was up for the taking, a man named R.U. Darby and his uncle used their life savings and bought all the equipment they’d need to harvest ore.

Almost immediately after they arrived, they hit gold on their very first try, reestablishing their faith about how ‘easy’ this would be.

They continued mining and realized they needed more equipment to keep harvesting this vein of gold. So they raised money from family and friends and decided to go all in. They dug deeper and deeper until—nothing. The vein just suddenly vanished.

They kept digging desperate to find it again, but it never showed up. Discouraged and out of funds, they sold their equipment to a local junk man for a few hundred dollars and went home.

But instead of scrapping the equipment, the junk man decided to check out the gold vein R.U. Darby was talking about. Before running over there, he hired a mining engineer to examine the site with him. Upon arriving, they found out the vein hadn’t disappeared—it had only shifted slightly.

So they dug a little farther, just three feet from where the Darbys had stopped, and hit one of the richest gold veins in Colorado history.

I always think of this story when I feel like giving up because it reminds me it’s those moments that you feel like quitting are sometimes the most valuable. It’s the time that’ll determine whether or not you’ll ultimately succeed.

It all comes down to persistence and knowing patience is rewarded for those who decide to hold out past the uncomfortability of failure.

Until next time,
Isaiah Taylor

Dive Deeper

What I’m Currently Reading - I’m still in the middle of reading Discourses by Epictetus. A stoic philosophers collections of lectures written by his student Arian.

Quote Of The Week - “If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit.” — Banksy