Is the Grass Greener?

• July 3rd, 2008
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This story was sent to me by my director today in an email. It is so intriguing and so relevant to our business (or any business endeavor, really). All to often we are wishing we have what others have. We feel like we are left behind while others are prospering. I think the following article very clearly shows why the grass may only seem greener on someone else’s pasture. Please enjoy the article and share what you think:

Acres of Diamonds
by Val Ensalaco, IWPA President

Perhaps you’ve heard the story. It’s one of Earl Nightingale’s favorite accounts. . .and I think of it often.

A true story, it goes like this:

An African farmer grew more weary day after day of working his land as rumors reached him of other farmers who had made millions by finding diamond mines. He sold his farm and for the rest of his life, he traveled the African continent in search of diamonds. He found none. Depressed and miserable, he gave up his life by drowning himself.

Crossing a small stream, the man who bought the farmer’s property spied a shiny rock lying on the bottom of the water. The prism-like reflections caught his eye. He thought the stone was a crystal and he took it to his home and placed it on the mantel. He liked looking at it.

Time passed and a visitor saw the beautiful stone and was awestruck. “Do you know what you’ve found?” the visitor excitedly asked. This was one of the largest diamonds ever found in Africa . The creek bottom was full of similar stones, perhaps smaller in size, but equally as brilliant.

The first farmer had owned the largest diamond in all of Africa , but sold them for pennies on the dollar to look for diamonds in other places.

Earl Nightingale concludes. . .”The moral is clear: If only the first farmer had taken the time to study and prepare himself–to learn what diamonds looked like in their rough state–and, since he had already owned a piece of the African continent, to thoroughly explore the property he had before looking elsewhere, all of his wildest dreams would have come true.

“The thing about this story that so profoundly affected Dr. Conwell and, subsequently, millions of others, was the idea that each of us is, at this moment, standing in the middle of his or her own acres of diamonds.”

Mr. Nightingale suggests that fortunate are those of us with the wisdom and patience to intelligently and effectively explore the work in which we are now engaged and to explore ourselves. We’ll usually find the riches we seek, whether they be financial or intangible or both.

Before we go running off to what we think are greener pastures, let’s be sure they’re really greener. Nightingale says that often when someone else’s pasture looks greener, it may be getting better care. And while we’re checking out someone else’s pasture, someone may be checking out ours

Tags: Business Building, Inspiration, Inspiration and Motivation, Motivation, Personal Responsibility, Work Ethic