Hector Feck found gold for the first time at age sixty-six. It was a transforming experience.
As he pinched the single gold nugget from the black sand collected on the ridges of his pan, he was astounded he felt no satisfaction in this discovery, even after twenty years of occasional gold panning, dredging, and metal detector searches.
Instead, he was disappointed. Not because the nugget was too small. It was not. When washed and cleaned, the nugget would fetch at least $1,500, money he sorely needed. He realized as he inspected the nugget carefully, all he had accomplished was to increase his desire for more gold, which meant more searching for it, and even when he found more, he would not be satisfied. He realized he would never be satisfied. Nothing in this world would satisfy.
Except, he remembered, as if inspired by a vision, the looking for gold. He was satisfied with the activity.
"So why continue to look for gold?" he asked himself. If it was for the money, then gold-hunting was just another job.