I was recently reminded of one of my favorite stories while traveling on business in California. Specifically, my husband, David, and I were driving from one meeting to another when we decided to stop for the night at a halfway point, which happened to be Pismo Beach. Naturally, I was eager to walk along the water the next morning. And this is where that story comes in.
A sight to behold
When I walked out to the pier and stopped to look out at the ocean, I saw more than 10 humpback whales breaching, feeding, showing off their tails, and the spouting was too numerous to count.
I looked around to see whether anyone else was watching and was shocked that they didn’t even seem to be looking toward the water. So many people were just going about their business. What’s more, even when I pointed out the whales to them, these folks just looked for a moment and kept on going. I was so excited by what I was seeing, that I spent the next four hours watching the humpback whales.
The African farmer
This situation reminded me of “Acres of Diamonds,” by Russell Conwell, a story about an African farmer who heard of others finding diamonds on their farms, so he sold his to travel the world looking for a diamond mine for himself. As the story goes, he searches for years and dies despondent over never finding that mine. The person who purchased his farm, however, found a rock in a river on the property one day, which turned out to come from one of the biggest diamond mines ever discovered.
The moral of the story is that so many times in life, the beauty, the opportunity, the blessings and the joy we search for is right in front of us. All we have to do is open our eyes to see it.
Acre awareness
After hearing this story, I have been inspired to keep my eyes open, and I continue to look for the beauty, the opportunity, the blessings, and the joy in situations which, at first blush, may not appear to offer them. Additionally, I recognize the many stories of those who have lived the lesson of the “Acres of Diamonds.”
As an example, Thomas Edison, a prolific inventor, discovered the beauty, opportunity, blessings and joy of failure. Credited with inventing the incandescent light bulb, phonograph, and motion picture camera, as well as acquiring close to 2,000 patents, he is quoted as saying, “I have not failed 10,000 times — I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.”
Diamonds in the ruff
My day with the humpback whales reminded me that every day is a new day with new blessings, new experiences, new people and, most of all, new opportunities. Start each day with me looking for the beauty around you, and remember you have your “Acres of Diamonds” right beside you waiting to be discovered. OM
