There is a saying that a thousand miles journey begins with the first step. Behind every memorable feat in human history, there is an unknown story of a humble beginning. Whatever, word action and thought are the fundamental principles of creation. The theory is the same with the meek and the mighty. In India, which is mostly a religious country, where each one is born into a particular religion, most people leave everything to destiny. In the disguise of a powerful religious base, instead of initiating something or realising their role as co-creators, people wait with infinite patience for an unknown power to help manifest their dreams. This is not positive thinking, which believes in expression of individual selves first. This negative attitude has become the prime reason for almost all the misfortunes an average religionist goes through. In my opinion, this is the greatest damage religions have inflicted on humanity.
Let us see what a positively thinking average man could contribute. Russell Herman Conwell, a 19th century man, was first a lawyer for about fifteen years and a clergyman thereafter. He was not an unusually skilled or rich individual, just an ordinary clergy man. One day, a young man came to him and told him that he wanted college education but couldn't swing it financially. What that first came to Conwell’s mind was the inspiring true story of an African farmer, who went on in search of diamonds. Diamonds were already discovered in abundance on the African continent and this farmer got so excited about the idea of millions of dollars worth of diamonds that he sold his farm and wandered all over the continent. As years slipped by, the man became desperate; he could not find any diamond anywhere. Eventually, he threw himself into a river and drowned. Meanwhile, the new owner of his farm picked up an unusual looking rock about the size of a country egg and put it in his mantle pocket for curiosity. A visitor stopped by and in viewing the rock practically went into terminal convulsions. He told the new owner of the farm that the funny looking rock with him was about the biggest diamond that had ever been found. The new owner of the farm said, "Heck, the whole farm is covered with them" - and sure enough it was. The farm later turned out to be the Kimberly Diamond Mine, the richest the world has ever known. The original farmer was literally standing on ‘Acres of Diamonds’ until he sold his farm.
Dr. Conwell had told this story many times and had attracted enormous audiences. ‘Am I too in the midst of diamonds?’ He asked himself. Charged by the disappointed young man who could not go to a university, Dr. Conwell decided to initiate a college itself. ‘Each of us is right in the middle of our own ‘acres of diamonds’, he began reminding his folks. He wanted to raise enough money to start a college for the underprivileged deserving students. What ultimately came to him was nearly six million dollars and the university he founded, Temple University in Philadelphia, has at least ten degree-granting colleges and six other schools now. This story does not get old. Opportunities do not just come along - it is there all the time. We just live in ‘acres of opportunities’. Do you need anybody to come over to your premises and pick out the diamonds that lie strewn all over?
