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Reframing Weaknesses in a New Light In surprising ways, character traits or personal conditions that seem to block us can sometimes be transmuted into the very thing that can help us most. Our job (largely) is to stay alert to these special moments. From early American history we are provided with another illustration of the unexpected way in which this process can unfold. This true story concerns Clark Davis, a resident in 1827 of Independence, Missouri, and one of twenty-five men who conducted the first, and perhaps most foolish, silver mining expedition to Colorado. One of his friends, James Cockrell, claimed to have found a silver mine in Colorado four years earlier while on a beaver-trapping venture. In the summer of 1827 Clark, his friend, and twenty three other frontiersmen set off on horseback to make their fortunes. James Cockrell was appointed leader of the group. Crossing the Great Plains in those times was dangerous. Each man took only his horse, a rifle and ammunition, scant bedding, and enough food for the first ten days. Hostile Indians would be a constant threat during the trip. Yet the group successfully made it through two hundred miles where food was scarce and found itself following the Arkansas River westward through buffalo country. So all the way to the base of the Rocky Mountains a steady supply of food was available. Once they were in the proper region, the leader of the expedition had considerable trouble finding the silver deposits. Clark and the […]