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 ot 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 country'' . And then he went away. That night the farmer couldn't sleep. He was unhappy and discontent.

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 disheartend that he threw himself into the Barcelona River and committed a suicide.

Back home, the person who had bought his farm was watering the camels at a stream that run 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 mantelpiece. 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 owner said , " No, that's just a stone I picked up from the stream. Come on, 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 of diamonds.

This story has 5 morals:
1. When our attitude is right, we realize that we are walking on acres of diamonds. Opportunity is always under our feet. We don't have to go anywhere. All we need to is recognize it.
2. The grass on the other side always looks greener.
3. While we are eying the grass on the other side, there are others who are eyeing 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 nise when it knocks.
5. The same opportunity never knocks twice.