Lack of recognition of the acres of diamonds under our feet
John couldn’t sleep that night as his mind kept wondering. He jumped out of bed and ran to his friend. “David. Will you tell me where I can find diamonds?” “Diamonds? What do you want with the diamonds?” “I want to be filthy rich, but I don’t know where to go.”
Once he got the instructions, he went to the unknown land in search of diamonds, leaving his family and property behind, never to return.
Months later, John’s son was plowing the field when his ax hit something. He carried that curious stone into the house and left it inside.
A few days later David came to visit when he saw that flash of light “Here’s a diamond. Is John back?” “No. John hasn’t come back and that’s not a diamond, it’s just a stone I got from our garden” “No. I’m sure. That’s a diamond”
Together they ran to the garden to stir the white sand with their fingers. Within minutes, they were standing in front of the most magnificent diamond mine humanity has ever seen.
If John had stayed home and dug his own garden instead of exploring unknown lands, that would have resulted in his misery, starvation, poverty and death, he would have had “acres of diamonds” – because every acre, yes, every shovelful of that old farm revealed the gems that have decorated the crowns of monarchs ever since.
We usually don’t see the diamonds that are just below our reach. How many intact books are in our home library? How about a great job opportunity and we end up attending it unawares? What if they are given the opportunity to work with great minds and not bring out the best in them?
We all want to make money, build a great career, and live a happy life. To do this, we look for opportunities. But most of the time, we unknowingly miss recognizing them when it’s right under your nose.
Entrepreneurs recognize opportunities and act accordingly. While still a student, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates saw a huge business opportunity while reading the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics magazine which featured the Altair 8800 and this would later lead to his amassing a fortune of $51 billion to earn him the title of “world’s richest man” for eleven consecutive years.
While at the University of Texas at Austin, Michael Dell saw the same opportunity when he started a computer company called PC’s Limited out of his room in the Dobie Center. This company would later become Dell Inc, an American technology company that employs more than 78,700 people worldwide.
Sergey bin and Larry Page, two PhD students, saw the same opportunity while building their new search engine that led to the birth of Google, a company ranked first among Forbes magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2007.
How many of us use the resources available to us. We may have the best library in our city, but many of us have never used it to its fullest.
If there’s something we need, it’s right in front of us. There is a diamond mine in front of us that, if exploited, can change our lives forever. But, we never see them, and they remain hidden from us throughout our lives.
If we fail in our life, it is because we did not take advantage of the opportunity that was given to us. We cannot blame our environment for our failure. As we ourselves are responsible for not getting the best out of our environment.
We had a wonderful learning opportunity with us, but we never worried about learning or using the best of it.
We would have a father, but we never treat them the way they should be respected and honored. We look around us for love, but we don’t see our parents’ love for us, and we put them in nursing homes.
We have immense opportunities under our feet, just that: we must open our eyes and decide to use them in the best possible way. Once we decide to put our diamonds to the best use, we are on our way to leaving a legacy, a legacy that will change you and the world forever.
