Inspiring Story: 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 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.

Author:Unknown

Presented by Hassan Ali