Page 31 - G-Gold to Lead

If we are aware of what we are doing and control these behaviors, few life problems may occur. If however, they become our major means of coping, they will supersede more rational coping skills and substance abuse, over eating and social isolation may become the norm, not the exception.
The main character of this story, the “Young Man” is quite unhappy. His unhappiness appears to stem from natural life difficulties. He lives deep in the woods and food is scarce. He wants to move to town but has no trade or way to earn money. His children have few toys and fewer friends. After rescuing an old man from drowning, he is given the old man’s most valuable possession.
Its weight is out of proportion to its size and he assumes it is a block of gold. He imagines that now all of his troubles are over. He will have plenty of food, buy toys for his children and move to town. As with many of us, he is engaging in the fantasy that “Someday” things will get better... but with no real effort on my part. Children are exposed to this belief from traditional fairy tales to television sitcoms, where everything turns out for the best for the main characters, usually with very little effort or time spent (after all, what can you do in a half hour sitcom.
But as in real life, the Young Man quickly finds out that the brick of “gold” is really a brick of lead. Consequently, there are no riches and no immediate solutions to his problems. The Old Man, who sees this brick of lead as his most prized possession, then begins to provide guidance to the Young Man regarding the use of the gift.
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