Have You Found Your Acres of Diamonds?

As I was reviewing my readings over the last 40 years, an interesting speech made popular in a small book over a century ago came to mind! "Acres of Diamond" by Russell Conwell was originally the content of a speech Mr. Conwell delivered over 5,000 times. After his military service as an officer during the U.S. Civil War, he studied law, but chose to serve as a minister and public speaker! The message is a simple parable.
The full text is available at Gutenber.org (available under "Public Domain") If you're interested in Conwell's biographical detail, it can also be found at Project Gutenberg.

Conwell had been traveling through modern-day Iraq in 1870, when he first heard the parable related to him. Following is a brief summary of the speech and it's application to each of us even today!

The story centers on a wealthy man named Ali Hafed who lived near the River Indus. “Ali Hafed was contented because he was wealthy, and wealthy because he was contented.”
One day a priest visited Ali Hafed and told him about diamonds. Ali Hafed heard all about diamonds, how much they were worth! Ali Hafed went to bed that night a poor man. He had not lost anything, but he was poor because he was discontented, and discontented because he feared he was poor. Ali Hafed sold his farm, left his family in the care of neighbors, and traveled to Palestine and then to Europe searching for diamonds. He did not find them. His health and his wealth failed him. Dejected, he cast himself into the sea!

One day, the man who had purchased Ali Hafed’s farm found a curious sparkling stone in a stream that cut through his land. It was a diamond. Digging produced more diamonds — acres of diamonds, in fact. This, according to the parable, was the discovery of the famed diamonds of Golconda.

The point of the story is that we often dream of fortunes to be made elsewhere. We ought instead to be open to the opportunities that are around us.

He illustrates this concept with several other stories, including that of the discovery of Gold in California.

Another is a farmer in Pennsylvania who sold his farm for $833 and went to work for his cousin in Canada, collecting oil. Shortly after, the man who purchased the farm found oil worth millions of dollars.

Where will you find your Acres of Diamonds?