Reading Club- Acres of Diamonds

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 that the glory of dimonds and the power that goes along with them.

The wise man said, "You had a diamond the size of your thumb you could have your own city. If you had a diamond the size 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 discontent. He was unhappy because he was discontent and he was discontent because he was unhappy.

The next morning he made arrangements to sell his farm, took care of his family and went away in search of diamonds. He looked all over Africa and couldn't find any. He looked through Europe and couldn't find any. When he gotto 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 mantlepiece. 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 recognise 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.

Moral of the story:

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 eyeing 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, then complainof noice 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.

- From Shiv Khera's book "How To Win".

Reading Club - Read A Story - Attitude

There was a man who made aliving selling balloons at a fair. He had all colours of balloons, including red, yellow, blue and green. Whenever business was slow, he would release a helium-filled balloon into the air and when the children saw it go up, they all wanted to buy one. They would come up to him, buy a balloon,and his sales would go up again.

He continued this process all day. One day, he felt someone tugging at his jacket. He turned around and saw a little boy who asked, "If you release a black balloon, would that also fly?" Moved by the boy's concern, the man replied with empathy. "Son, it is not the colour of the balloon, it is what is inside that makes it go up."

The same thing applies to our lives, it is what is inside that counts. The thing inside of us that makes us go up is our attitude.

Take from Shiv Khera's "How To Win."

Posted by Manju Rani Jain, Librarian.