Thursday, August 6, 2009

Found Money

I just stumbled on an update I posted to a social network nearly a year ago... and it's so juicy, I just have to share the story here, for it is such a great morsel of gold that many can appreciate!

One day early last October, I had just come off the phone with my little brother to say Happy Birthday to my one-year-old niece. It was a great connect with really good energy, because I really miss and love my little brother and I completely adore his new little daughter... Well, the timing of our talk was such that it was right when my brother's small little town in the mountains of Eastern California was all over the national news about a plane wreckage that had been discovered in the mountains there.

So as we talked, I mentioned the news and asked about all the hubbub going on in his little town. That's when I learned that my brother, who lives in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., is friends with the hiker who had earlier that week, literally stumbled upon some money in the woods - money that was later determined to have belonged to a very wealthy and famous pilot who had disappeared a full year prior.

When my brother shared that he knew the hiker who'd made the discovery, he told me, he's a really humble guy who worked at a local sporting goods store and had just been out hiking around off trail when he stumbled on the discovery. And that's when he told me that the guy had been awarded a very handsome reward for turning-in the thousand dollar bills he'd found strewn across the mountain side... I sort of gasped at this news, and then we both said... "Wow, so that guy just became a millionaire - by walking in the woods! What do ya know 'bout that?!".... We really got it... and with a huge laugh and jubilant recognition, we were so happy to revel in knowing his friend's extremely good fortune.

And I said... so, guess the moral is... just keep doing what you know is right... and before long, good things happen... just because!

~~

I really love coming across this story today, because it is such a rich example (pardon the pun!) ... and a great morsel of gold from everyday life!

It gives me such a hopeful feeling to know things like this happen! To me... knowing good examples of what is possible is so important because the idea gets planted in us that we could have this kind of good fortune too! Because... Why NOT?!

This hiker was a really humble guy... when he made the find, it was mostly just money laying on the ground - many thousand dollar bills and a hardly distinguishable torn piece of paper. He was a pretty humble guy for whom I'm sure $100 would have been awesome "found money"... not to mention what many $1000's would be! So, he could have just kept the money, as I'm sure it might have easily seemed "left without a trace" to any owner... but after considering the situation, he thought he'd better notify authorities, for after all, it was a bit strange to find that kind of money laying around out in the woods.

Lo and behold, it was quickly determined that this hiker's find was the missing clue for a plane that had disappeared a full year prior, for which all search efforts had failed. The money he'd found apparently belonged to the famous pilot who had been lost "somewhere in the Sierra."

So it was a miracle really... the hiker notified authorities, turned in the money and that was that...

But then... the story came full circle, the hiker was eventually given a $1 million award by the family of the pilot! Wow! That had to have been an enormous shock - and a huge jackpot for him!

So, he did the right thing, gave up the money he'd found which was probably hard to part with, but he ended up getting back an enormously more substantial amount... not to mention the whole "rest of the story" that unfolded in bringing closure to an unsolved mystery for the pilot's family and all others concerned! And all of that... "for just walking in the woods" ~ Amazing!

So, good things do happen... often when least expected... and just because!

Here's to holding hope, and knowing, treasures behold... it all comes around in the end! ~


by Sharon L. Corsaro, online at www.growing-gold.com

Sharon Corsaro is a writer, creative coach and freelance consultant. She shares morsels of gold found in everyday life and our world, through her writings and Creative Coaching practice where she empowers others with tools for "doing change, creatively" ~ in life, business, community and more. To learn more about Sharon, please visit growing-gold.com ~ and follow this blog to catch more stories, pouring!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This story is charming...
However they have not printed US$1,000's in a very looooong time! Even then they were only used in between banks!
Maybe they meant he found thousand's...
Just a thought

Sharon L Corsaro said...

I'm glad you liked this story ~ I found it especially sweet myself!

As for the money... you've got me curious. I do personally know bush pilots who carry thousands of dollars cash on their person at all times for emergencies... Given this pilot was a millionaire, I have no doubt he was doing the same... I did see news reports where the authorities showed a lot of cash that had been found on the forest floor...

What matters in my opinion... is the heart of the story... the hiker found a LOT of money... he turned it in... and was very surprising awarded a lot MORE money! A gift of honesty perhaps... surely a lesson for us all... to do what's right without expectation, and good things happen! That's what I got from this anyway... and that's what I felt so compelled to share.

Maybe that too, can shine through for you ~