Page 12 - G-Gold to Lead

The Young Man made himself very upset when his magical solution, (a block of gold) did not work out. It is very easy for us to disappoint ourselves when our hopes don’t match our reality. Has anyone
ever said to you, “Don’t count on it” or “Don’t get your hopes
up too high.” But you don’t listen to them. You keep on thinking that everything will turn out alright and then you get upset when it doesn’t.
Well in the story, the Young Man is very disappointed that the “gift” was not gold. But the Old Man did make a suggestion, “You could melt the lead, pour it into a musket ball mold and have many bullets for your rifle.” Now that seems like a good use of the “gift” (lead). It was an opportunity to take charge of a situation and do something to make life better.
But that’s not what happened. This Young Man sees his past failures as a predictor of future failure. “It doesn’t work, so why try.” Do you know someone who won’t play a game unless they are sure that they can win? Think how hard it would be to learn a game, like baseball, if you quit trying to learn the game after the first strike out.
1. What did the Young Man tell himself when the old man suggested he use the lead to make bullets ?
2. What kind of thinking is that ?
3. How did he feel?
4. What was his behavior?
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