Colombian emeralds and pathetic losers

Emeralds

Colombia is the largest emerald producer in the world. These green color shiny stones have enormous value when compared to stones in your backyard. Although fundamentally I see no difference I cannot magically convert thousands of people to believe in what I believe. It's a belief anyway, so Colombian emeralds will keep its value.

It is a well-known fact that Colombian civil war between its left and right parties, revolves around the emeralds. Emeralds had kept the country both rich and poor at the same time. As cartels often clash with government for the power of emerald mines. It is understood as emeralds considered rarest form of gems, and the fine quality of the Colombian emeralds are not matched by any other. As an example, Duke of Devonshire emerald and Gashala emerald from Colombia had their own wiki articles as they are more important and valuable than you or me. Lol. So that is one example of a pathetic looser. But there is another and this is about philosophy of mining.

Emerald

I was watching a documentary on emeralds the other day about Muzo Valley mines in Colombia. Apparently now fighting are less and foreign investors are using peaceful times to make it a profitable investment. However, from time to time they give out mined earth, which is already devoid of emeralds to general public. And I have seen people gather around, waiting overnight to rush to a lump of gravel to fill their bags with, once they done that, to wash it by hand to pick up any leftover emeralds. I can compare this thing only to people who fight for a bag of rice in the cyclone battered country of Heiti. Pathetic losers, right?

Real pathetic losers?

Wrong! And the proof came from a girl who has been doing this emerald hunt for years. Her story was remarkable. She had been a waitress, living by herself yet participate in emerald ritual whenever there is a give out. And she doesn't shame herself for doing that. When interviewed by the documentary crew she remarkably gives a different view. She says "there is no shame in hunting for an emerald. I might or might not be lucky. But pathetic is to wake up every day to get stuck in 8 to 5 jobs without any hope of breaking out" 😕

I was taken aback by the deep philosophical nature of her saying so dedicated this article for everyone who believes in finding emeralds in their mines. Consider what it means. She is talking about risk management in life.

Earthworms

Emerald hunters and pathetic losers

Living is a leap of faith. Whether we liked it or not we have to believe in something. And everyone is right and wrong at the same time. Consider the stock market, generally have a higher return than bond market as the risk of losing money is higher in stock. Similarly, 8 to 5 workers appear safe, but they will never break out into a rich life as they do not take any risk in life.

At this point you would say, hold on a minute. I am not a gambler. I am a true Christian. I value a peaceful life and a safe heaven. I value good deeds and a family life. I would not go into arguing with you. I would just point out the fact that you must investigate where your believes come from.

It's just like artificial values we give to emeralds which are not even edible but just have a bright color and persist over time. Whenever we give a value to our own thoughts we gamble. We gamble against the nature which has no meaning or value as it stays only as long as the reasons are matched, eventually to entangle ourselves in a messy life of a pathetic looser. What would you do instead, now you know the facts.

Are you going to dig up a mine in your backyard or painting your pictures on walls like a Banksy? How about learning some philosophy and mindfulness with me. I can be a friend and show you some emeralds. So, there is one less pathetic looser in the world.