Many stories of lost treasure have been circulating the world. Gold bars, coins of silver and gold, golden statues, the treasure that the men before us have hidden away in fear of it being stolen by others. People enjoy these kinds of mysteries that we eventually made books and movies about long lost treasure and the people who go out and try to find them.
There is a story of a long lost treasure in the Philippines that has driven many people insane. Yamashita’s Gold, or as more commonly known in the Philippines as Yamashita’s treasure, is a story of Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita is a war loot stolen in Southeast Asia by the Imperial Japanese Forces back in World War II. This treasure has been rumored to have been hidden in the caves, underground complexes, or underground in the Philippines.
Different treasure hunters have searched high and low for the treasure, and some people have formed unhealthy obsessions to find the missing treasure. There have been stories of men who have gone on a search for the treasure and never came back to have been found walking around, driven insane by the search.
The quest for treasure that people are not even sure exists can be mentally exhausting and physically. What happens is we rely so much on the uncertain, and we risk everything on it that when we reach a point of realization that this might not happen or that you may never find the treasure, we fall into a depression that may ultimately cost us more than we got.
So, we always have to be careful about the things that we rely on in our lives; chances that are uncertain should never be our basis for anything to avoid future disappointment or depression. Before anything else, our main priority should always be ourselves and our mental health. Without a healthy mind, our body becomes useless.
If you ever decide on venturing into the world in search of gold, silver, or treasure, you have to make sure that you protect yourself from any harm. This is both physically and mentally. You cannot let yourself go in any way because this search may cost a lot more than you have bargained for.
Like the Filipino Locksmith, who had found a golden Buddha statue and other loot that he had claimed to have found in a secret tunnel in the Philippines, Rogelio Roxas claimed that what he had found was Yamashita’s treasure. He was then held at gunpoint by what he had claimed to be a goon of the then President Ferdinand Marcos.
This had caused a lot of trauma for Roxas, who had experienced Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD after the incident that he was unable to file a report until 20 years later. After years of battling for his right to the treasure and the mental damages it had caused him, Roxas eventually won the case. President Marcos was ordered to give back the loot, the golden Buddha, and 22 Million Dollars as compensation.
Now, let us not focus on what Roxas had gotten after the trials, but rather, we should focus on the effect it had on him. The search and eventually finding the treasure has caused him to experience such a traumatic event that almost claimed his life. This life-threatening event has caused his mental health to decline rapidly, and it caused him to eat away at him for more than two decades. There are things that no gold or silver can repay. No amount of treasure can change the fact that Roxas went through hell.
After all this, you should know that what is more important is to ensure that you get to go back home to your family. Going on a quest for treasure will not only be affecting you but also the people around you, the people who care about you. The outcomes of going on a journey like this will not always be like Roxas or Indiana Jones. You do not always get the best out of the hardship. Sometimes, all you get is an even harder time, and when that happens, you have to know that you come first before the riches you may or may not find eventually.
It is good to have something to focus on but always remember that there are things that you may not experience like how other people have. So, make sure that you keep your mind in check, your perspective straight, and your goal achievable. This way, you do not overwhelm yourself with pressure, anxiety, or stress. You can go out and look for gold, have an amazing time with your friends, but you should never let your mind go farther than it needs to be.