Acres Of Diamonds

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I make no apologies for peddling this old chestnut. It made a huge impact on me 30 years or more ago, and often pops up in my head from time to time.

The story is of a desert farmer who heard rumours about other farmers who had made millions by discovering diamonds.

These rumours were so exciting that he immediately sold his farm and set off searching for diamonds, even though he had no idea what they looked like.

Many years later, desolate and despondent, he threw himself off a bridge.

Meanwhile, back at the farm that he'd sold, interesting things had happened.

The new owner had noticed, in the little streams that criss-crossed the farm, little shiny bits among the stones at the bottom. He picked one up and put it on his mantlepiece as a decoration.

A few days later a visitor to the farm saw it on the mantlepiece and asked the farmer if he knew what it was. He didn't, but was pleased to learn that it was a diamond. The visitor, in turn, was surprised to learn that the rivers had many such pretty stones.

The farm became one of the richest diamond mines on the entire continent.

The first farmer had owned, free and clear, acres of diamonds. But he had sold them, for practically nothing, in order to look elsewhere.

The lesson here is - if the other guy’s grass looks greener than yours, it’s quite possible that it’s getting better care.

Learn to do better what you already do.


PS

If you'd like to see the "original" version, here's the link http://www.nightingale.com/articles/acres-of-diamo...

It's not really "the original" because Nightingale-Conant nicked it from Dr Russell Conwell who was the founder of “new thought” literature back in the early 1900's.

Acres of Diamonds was originally a lecture which Dr Russell Conwell delivered in over 6000 towns, villages and cities http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/rconwella...

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Recent Comments

42

Thanks Chris, a very enjoyable Sunday read. And I receive the imparted wisdom.

Marty

Great Blog. Thanks.

Acres of Diamonds is also a gospel song by "The Rev William McCrea".

Thank you.Enjoyed the read.

Great story Chris. We might have heard this story before, but no harm hearing it again. Stories like these remind ourselves to take stock of our lives. Centre yourselves and " look at the bigger picture ".
Search for the " diamonds"in your own life and you will find riches there also

Nice but sobering story

Chris great story . I love to read stories like this one.

Chris that was a great story and so true. We need to tend to our sites and give it that tender care, and not give up or go looking somewhere else. My father use to tell me and my siblings something very similar to this story. I will have to remember this story tho...Thanks!

Hi Chris
That is a very telling yarn . The grass is always greener on the otherside of the fence . Thank you for the reminder . The knowledge here is so encompassing .
Alexander

It's a great parable. Too often we run around chasing the newest thing and then giving up on it when it gets too hard. We become, as the saying goes, 'Jack-of-All-Trades and master of none'.

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