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.
That job was a plum 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. As he was answering the eight math questions, he got through the eight math questions fairly easily. When he looked on the blackboard and there were two problems on the board. He copied them down and he began to work on those two problems and he couldn’t solve them.
The challenge of the unknown future is so much more exciting than the stories of the accomplished past.
Why not me? Why not me?
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. He said just bring the test back by Friday.
He went home and sat up night after night. This was Monday. All day Tuesday. Tuesday night. Wednesday and Wednesday night.
He just kept thinking somebody is going to get these 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 got it turned in by eleven am, which was the deadline. He went home wondering what would happen. Sunday morning at seven am there was a knock, knock, knock at his door.
He jumps out of bed. It’s his professor. His professor says “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. 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 are the two unsolved math questions that even Einstein himself went to his grave unable to solve. How did you do this George?”
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 art of becoming for you are, a son, you are a daughter of the Infinite; of the Most High…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!
Ngan
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