Natural Resources

While there are certainly nations like Saudi Arabia and UAE that have considerable wealth stemming from oil, there are also nations that seem to be quite impoverished despite significant natural resources. In South America, several countries have huge reservoirs of oil, but many of their people remain destitute. Several African nations like Sierra Leone, Liberia and Angola have large deposits of diamonds, yet remain poor. Other impoverished African nations such as Mali and Zimbabwe have some of the “richest” gold mines. Some of the countries that were formerly part of the USSR have significant natural gas reserves but have yet to escape poverty.

While there are many economic variables at play, a couple reasons for this apparent dichotomy is the lack of technology and logistical capabilities to harvest those resources along with relative isolation and shortcomings in connectivity with other economies with which to trade those resources. In short, these countries lack the ability to tap into those resources and fall short in effectively distributing them.

I think it’s the same with individuals. There are people out there who have substantial “natural resources” such as intelligence, talent and giftedness, but never really tap into them or simply neglect to deliver the benefits of those resources to others. Maybe the resources are never developed or perhaps they are just not well distributed, but in either case, the result is a kind of emotional and spiritual poverty and a destitute well-being.

I think it matters less what talents and gifts you are “naturally” born with, but more how you develop and deliver those resources. A rich life does not automatically come from the abundance of buried potential, but rather from the extraction of those talents to benefit the world around you.

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