YeOldGoldNugget's Blog Spot: The Midas Touch

Thursday, October 1, 2009

The Midas Touch

By 79Atoms on Thursday, October 01, 2009

Most people will know what is meant by this when hearing this particular saying. Now when we use it in our day to day lives it's always a reference to someone who no matter which path he or she takes their actions will always turn out profitable to them and their immediate surroundings.

Other people will know it from the myth in which an ancient king called Midas wished for the ability to turn everything he touched into gold. So it was said and so it was done, Midas apparently overjoyed by his new-found ability wanted to celebrate this by throwing a big feast for himself. Little did he know then that gold is not on the list of easiest things to digest for our fragile digestive tract for when he wanted to feast himself on all the food laying before his eyes, everything he tried to bring to his mouth had already turned to gold.

In Hawthorne's version he even changed his own daughter into a golden statue. Needless to say King Midas came to regard his once so desired ability as a serious burden. To try to rid himself of this burden he prayed to Dionysus and begged to be rid of this curse or wither away and die from starvation. Dionysus heard his prayers and told Midas to wash his hands in the river Pactolus. Midas washed his hands and with that his power away...after doing so the river sands turned to gold and is I suppose as good as any explanation as to why this river was so rich in gold ;-)

So, turns out for Midas he didn't choose too wisely and let his emotions run wild instead of thinking about the consequences his wish could entail. Would most of us really fare any better when faced with a similar situation in which we are granted one wish to be whatever one can think of. I doubt it.

What Midas was aware of however, like so many before him and after him was that

Gold is the most precious of precious metals

I'm not sure if they already knew back then just how precious precious really is?

How precious...I'll leave that story for a later time. Now, with just a couple minutes left before the Venture Exchange opens and me being struck down with an already manifesting cold I'm going to make myself a nice warm beverage and I will be back later for the round up of the day.

Good luck for today.

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