A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE

One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people can be.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?”

“It was great, Dad.”

“Did you see how poor people can be?” the father asked.

“Oh Yeah” said the son.

“So what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.

The son answered, “I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.”

With this the boy’s father was speechless.

Then his son added, “Thanks dad for showing me how poor we are.”

Too many times we forget what we have and concentrate on what we don’t have.

What is one person’s worthless object is another’s prize possession.

It is all based on one’s perspective. Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for all the bounty we have, instead of worrying about wanting more.

[Excerpted from the 'Lifescaping' seminar participant's manual. The 'Lifescaping' seminar is conducted by Dilip Mukerjea about four times a year under the auspices of the Singapore Institute of Management.]

Say Keng's personal comments:

The foregoing story from Dilip Mukerjea reminds me of a classic inspirational lecture, known as the 'Acres of Diamonds', by Russell Conwell (1843 –1925) [a Baptist minister, orator, philanthropist, lawyer, & writer, who founded the Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1884], which I had first heard of & read about in the seventies.

In a nut shell, as I recall, the story goes something like this:

A Persian farmer named Ali Hafed sold his farm and left his family to travel the world in search of wealth. He desired diamonds and looked everywhere, but could never find what he lusted for. He ended his own life, alone, destitute, a homeless pauper. His hopeless search for riches simply consumed him.

The man who had bought Ali Hafed’s farm, however, worked hard, grateful beyond belief for every inch of dirt he now owned. He had his family around him, plenty of food, and total contentment.

One day, he made an amazing discovery. The backyard that Ali Hafed had deserted contained a diamond mine, quite literally acres of diamonds.

I like to interpret my lesson from the story as follows:

In order for us to find fortune, opportunity & achievement, we don't need to look elsewhere. Instead, the resources for us to become rich & happy are present all around us.

That's to say, abundance begins inside each & every one of us. Also, opportunities await us, right where we are, oftentimes right in our own backyard.

All we need to do is to open our eyes wide, & be sensitive to our immediate surroundings.