Acres of Diamonds
Story Attributed to Russell Conwell, Adapted by Leopold Llonch
There was an African farmer who heard tales about other farmers who became wealthy by discovering diamond mines. He wasn’t content with his life, so he sold his farm and went prospecting somewhere else for his riches.
He spent the rest of his life wandering the African continent searching unsuccessfully for diamonds. Finally, worn out and despondent, he threw himself into a river and drowned.
Meanwhile, the man who bought his farm was crossing a small stream on the property, when he noticed a bright flash of blue in the stream bottom. He bent down and picked up a stone and brought it home and placed it on his fireplace mantel.
One day a visitor picked up the stone from the mantle, looked at it closely and asked the farmer if he knew what he’d found. The farmer thought that it was a piece of crystal. The visitor told him he had found one of the largest diamonds ever discovered. The farmer could hardly believe it and said that his creek was full of such stones, not as large as that one, but that they were sprinkled generously throughout the creek bottom.
The first farmer sold what turned out to be one of the most productive diamond mines on the entire African continent. He owned, free and clear, his own acres of diamonds. But he sold them for practically nothing, in order to look for diamonds elsewhere.
The moral is clear: If the first farmer had only taken the time to study and learn what diamonds looked like in their rough state, and to thoroughly explore his property before looking elsewhere, all of his wildest dreams would have come true.
This story has been told thousands of times and has affected many people. It’s the idea that each of us can be standing in the middle of our own acres of diamonds: whether it be the place we live, the work we do, or our personal gifts and talent.
If you’re feeling discontent with the work you do or where you live, don’t change your circumstances without first discerning the source of your displeasure. Use every spare minute you have to discover your personal gifts and talents that will bring you all the riches you desire.
Remember that the riches which fulfill our lives may be in the form of the spiritual, the intellectual, the physical, in our relationships, or financial riches
Here are a few clues to your personal Acres of Diamonds;
- What positive thoughts inhabit your mind frequently?
- What do you love to do when you have free time?
- What do other people say you’re good at?
Your Acres of Diamonds could be all around you, but if you haven’t found them yet, you haven’t yet looked hard enough to see them.
Make it a Great Day!
Leopold