Miner

Everything worth having is buried.

What you are looking for is not on the surface. It never was. The surface is where everyone else gives up.

Below the surface is rock. Below the rock is dark. Below the dark is the thing you came for.

Most never see it. They tap the topsoil, find nothing, and decide nothing is there.

Most want the gold without the dirt. There is no such trade.

Something is there. It is waiting for you. It will wait forever if you let it.

The work is dirty. The conditions are harsh. The reward is far. So what.

Pick up the tool. Swing the pick. Move the rock. Repeat for years.

When you hit something you cannot break, find a way around. When you cannot find a way around, blast through. When the blast does not work, sit down, eat, and start again in the morning.

The tunnels will collapse. Years of work buried in an hour. This is not the end of the dig. This is the dig.

Get back to work. Do not stop.

Those who find what they came for are not stronger or smarter. They are still digging when everyone else went home.

“Dig within. Within is the wellspring of good; and it is always ready to bubble up, if you just dig.” — Marcus Aurelius