ACRES OF DIAMOND

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.
Opportunity is always under our feet. We don't
have to go anywhere. All we need 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.