Acres of Diamonds

"Your diamonds are not in far distant mountains or in yonder  seas; they are in your own backyard, if you but dig for them."  -  Russell H. Conwell
The Acres of Diamonds story is one of my all time favorites.....Russell Conwell supposedly told his story
sermon over six thousand times.  Basically a man sold his farm to travel far to look for diamonds, he lost everything and was penniless  when he took his own life. The farmer who bought his farm loved the land and tended the farm with love and compassion, he found an abandoned diamond mine on the property and became wealthy...........each of us has that mine of diamonds with in us.

Often I tell my students, the answers are within you......and they look at me with disbelief.  Why is it so hard for us to imagine that that everything we seek is within us.....in our own back yard?  Those diamonds that we seek......they are already in our reach, in our grasp.  Sometimes it takes a little digging, some work,
some soul searching, some honesty and truth.......but they really are there.   The joy that we search for in our jobs or relationships, the love that we look for in others, the self-worth that we seek by tearing others down........it is all within.

We find joy through our gratitude.........our gratitude of all things, big and small.  Others love us, when we begin to love ourselves, not arrogant egotistical self-love......but the love of seeing ourselves as human, with our strength and our frailties.   Self-worth, that is obtained by finding and pursuing our passion.......following a path of service to others.

I have to admit, that we as a society scoff at the idea of acres of diamonds in our own back yard.  How many times, has someone local with talent and potential,  not be recognized by their neighbors......you
know, it's just "old Joe" he's done that for years.....and then suddenly old Joe is discovered by someone across the country, who recognized Joe's Acres of Diamonds.  Pretty interesting,  isn't it?

So tonight, here is another of my thoughts for the new year.......look for diamonds in your own back yard and while you're back there, look at your neighbor's too.  Let's start a trend in 2012, looking for the
diamonds......our own and our neighbors.  I think we will all be amazed by what we find.