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.
