Finding Life’s Diamonds

Earl Nightingale told the story of a young man in Africa who owned a nice farm. His dream was to get rich by finding diamonds so he sold his farm, took the money and bought a piece of land which was supposed to have the highest probability of of diamonds anywhere in the world.

The story goes he searched for diamonds his whole life but died many years later, very poor, having never found any diamonds. Meanwhile the person he sold his farm to was out plowing the fields one day and came upon a large object in the dirt hindering their plowing.

Rather than go around it or get mad they took the time to dust off the object and it started shining. The more it was cleaned the more it glittered. They took the time to take the object to the experts and have it evaluated.

It turned out to be the largest single diamond ever discovered and the farm was one of the largest diamond mines ever found. Nightingale calls this the story of “Acres of Diamonds.”

I’ve found many instances in life where problems really are “opportunities dressed in work clothes.”

Our challenge in life is to maintain an enthusiastic positive attitude (EPA) so when we face obstacles, and we will, we can see the possibilities in our current circumstances and not quickly look for the grass to be greener on the other side.

By keeping our focus on our God given purpose in life, we can move past the challenges and achieve success and happiness.

Don’t let life’s stones cause you to miss your diamonds.