Robert Clements
He had worked abroad all his life, and today as he stood with the rest of the family at the wedding of his daughter, he realized he didn’t know her at all. He looked at his wife, she looked old and care worn. She wore the best dress money could buy, his daughter’s wedding dress also was the best, but as he stared at both of them, he found they were strangers and he realized sadly that they also hardly knew him!
A century ago, Russell Conwell traveled the United States with a speech he called, "Acres of Diamonds." He told of a young man who studied at Yale to become a mining engineer. Upon graduation, "gold fever" struck him and he set off to California to seek his fortune.
Yale had offered him a position as an instructor, which he turned down. He persuaded his mother to sell their Massachusetts farm and accompany him. But the trip was futile as he found no gold and eventually accepted a job in Minnesota working for a mining company - at a lower salary than he would have received at Yale.
More interesting is that the man who bought the family farm from the widowed mother was harvesting potatoes one day. As he slid a heavy bushel through an opening in the stone wall, he noticed a shiny stone. He had it assayed and learned it was native silver.
The farm was sitting on a fortune in silver!
Why had the mining engineer, who had undoubtedly passed by that same rock and others like it hundreds of times, not discovered the ore?
Could it be that he never dreamed a treasure could be found so easily?
Was it because he believed that one must go elsewhere to fulfill a dream?
What we are seeking may be found right where we are! There are certainly times to make life changes, but sometimes we must simply change our thinking.
What you seek (happiness, security, fulfillment, challenge) may be at your fingertips, though yet unseen.
There may be hidden potential in your present job, your current relationships or the location in which you live.
The answers to your dreams may be found at your fingertips if you only believe it is possible.
Before making that big life change, look carefully around.
YOU may be sitting on acres of diamonds!
He had worked abroad, and today as he stood with the rest of the family at the wedding of his daughter, he realized he didn’t know her at all. He looked at his wife, she looked old and care worn. She wore the best dress money could buy, his daughter’s wedding dress also was the best, but as he stared at both of them, he found they were strangers.
He had gone in search of diamonds, and lost the very ones in his own backyard..!
Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist and author. He blogs at www.bobsbanter.com and can be reached at bobsbanter@gmail.com
