MORAL

ACRES OF DIAMONDS

There was a farmer in Africa who was happy and content. He was happy because hewas content. He was content because he was happy. One day a wise man came to himand told him about the glory of diamonds and the power that goes along with them. Thewise man said, "If you had a diamond the size of your thumb, you could have your owncity. If you had a diamond the size of your fist, you could probably own your owncountry." And then he went away. That night the farmer couldn't sleep. He was unhappyand he was discontent. He was unhappy because he was discontent and discontentbecause he was unhappy.The next morning he made arrangements to sell off his farm, took care of his family andwent in search of diamonds. He looked all over Africa and couldn't find any. He looked allthrough 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 theBarcelona River and committed suicide.Back home, the person who had bought his farm was watering the camels at a streamthat ran through the farm. Across the stream, the rays of the morning sun hit a stone andmade it sparkle like a rainbow. He thought it would look good on the mantle piece. Hepicked up the stone and put it in the living room. That afternoon the wise man came andsaw the stone sparkling. He asked, "Is Hafiz back?" The new owner said, "No, why doyou ask?" The wise man said, "Because that is a diamond. I recognize one when I seeone." The man said, no, that's just a stone I picked up from the stream. Come, I'll showyou. There are many more." They went and picked some samples and sent them foranalysis. Sure enough, the stones were diamonds. They found that the farm was indeedcovered 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 ofdiamonds.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 thegrass 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 itknocks.

5. The same opportunity never knocks twice. The next one may be better or worse, but itis never the same one.