I came across this powerful true story and wanted to share it with you… George Danzig was a grad student in mathematics at a time when jobs were very, very difficult to get in the United States.
His math professor, who was the head of the mathematics department, said to the grad students that whoever got the best grade on the final had the opportunity to be hired as his research assistant for the next year. It was a great job. Everybody wanted the job.
George said that he studied so hard for that test that he was up until the middle of the night and overslept and was actually late to the test. But he got there in time to take the test, was handed the test and went to the back of the room. He got through the eight math questions fairly easily and when he looked up at the blackboard he saw there were two problems on the board. He copied them down and he began to work on those two problems but he couldn’t solve them.
He began to think that somebody in this room is going to solve these problems. What’s wrong with me? He kept working and working and working on the problems. He couldn’t get them solved and by the end of the time that was allowed some of the students asked for additional time to work. The professor said they could take the test home and bring it back by Friday. So George, too, asked for more time and the professor said to just bring the test back by Friday.
George went home and sat up night after night. This was Monday and he continued to work on the problems all day Tuesday, Tuesday night, Wednesday and Wednesday night. He just kept thinking somebody is going to get these problems solved. Why not me? Why not me? Finally, by Thursday morning he had one of them solved. Then he kept working, working, working late into Thursday night and on Friday morning he solved the second one.
He took the test back and turned it in by 11a.m., which was the deadline and he went home wondering what would happen. Sunday morning at 7a.m. there was a knock, knock, knock at his door. He jumped out of bed to answer the door and it was his professor. His professor said, “George, you’ve made mathematical history! I was thinking on the way over here, you were late to the test right?” George said, “Well yeah, did I do something wrong?”
“No”, the professor said, “it’s just that the eight questions were the test. I told everybody who was gathered that I’ve had such a great time teaching all of you, if you want to have fun for the rest of your life, these two questions on the board are the two unsolved math questions that even Einstein himself went to his grave unable to solve. George how did you do this — how did you solve the questions?’
George recounted that if he had heard ahead of time that no one has been able to solve those problems, his way of defining his relationship to that problem would have been so different that he would not have made himself available to the access to the solution that was within him. That same access is within every one of us.
Now I don’t know what it is that you are facing. But I know this about you. That you are in the process of ‘becoming’ — to be everything you want to be, to give everything you want to give…to build your dream life.Know that there is always a solution available for any problem you may be facing. Your job is to stay open to that possibility… Believing in You! Barbara
P.S. Want support in discovering and building your dreams?
I few blogs ago I put out an offer for a complementary stategy session and I have decided to offer it again. In between my coaching and speaking schedule, I carve out a few strategy sessions each month. If you would like a complimentary strategy session (Value = $250), simply contact me here; [email protected]
