ACRES OF DIAMONDS |
There was a farmer in Africa who was happy and content. He was happy because he |
was content. He was content because he was happy. One day a wise man came to him |
and told him about the glory of diamonds and the power that goes along with them. The |
wise man said, "If you had a diamond the size of your thumb, you could have your own |
city. If you had a diamond the size of your fist, you could probably own your own |
country." And then he went away. That night the farmer couldn't sleep. He was unhappy |
and he was discontent. He was unhappy because he was discontent and discontent |
because he was unhappy. |
The next morning he made arrangements to sell off his farm, took care of his family and |
went in search of diamonds. He looked all over Africa and couldn't find any. He looked all |
through Europe and couldn't find any. When he got to Spain, he was emotionally, |
physically and financially broke. He got so disheartened that he threw himself into the |
Barcelona River and committed suicide. |
Back home, the person who had bought his farm was watering the camels at a stream |
that ran through the farm. Across the stream, the rays of the morning sun hit a stone and |
made it sparkle like a rainbow. He thought it would look good on the mantle piece. He |
picked up the stone and put it in the living room. That afternoon the wise man came and |
saw the stone sparkling. He asked, "Is Hafiz back?" The new owner said, "No, why do |
you ask?" The wise man said, "Because that is a diamond. I recognize one when I see |
one." The man said, no, that's just a stone I picked up from the stream. Come, I'll show |
you. There are many more." They went and picked some samples and sent them for |
analysis. Sure enough, the stones were diamonds. They found that the farm was indeed |
covered with acres and acres of diamonds.
What is the moral of this story? |
There are five morals: |
1. When our attitude is right, we realize that we are all walking on acres and acres of |
diamonds. |
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Attributed to Dr Russel Conwell . |
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to do is recognize it. |
2. The grass on the other side always looks greener. |
3. While we are dyeing the grass on the other side, there are others who are dyeing the |
grass on our side. They would be happy to trade places with us. |
4. When people don't know how to recognize opportunity, they complain of noise when it |
knocks. |
5. The same opportunity never knocks twice. The next one may be better or worse, but it |
is never the same one. |