In Own Backyard

“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” Alexander Graham Bell

For any small scale establishment, to generate revenue to keep on going is a necessity. From outsourcing to hiring, giving better offers to the clients; various ways and means are explored to generate income with a margin of profit. At one of the recent monthly audits, on reviewing the performance, it was surprising to note a significant area of potential left untapped as (to phrase it) “no one had thought about it”. What immediately came to mind, is how it easier to hire and branch out than develop at the home front using the opportunities in one’s own backyard. Be it a group establishment or personal endeavors, one doesn’t have to go far to get a chance when one uses the available options, resources and potential at hand.

“Most people miss Opportunity because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Thomas A. Edison

We are all a bit like the protagonist in Conwell’s famous essay, “Acres of Diamonds”, based on parable of a rich but yet poor man who eventually loses out on life. Like the protagonist, it’s easy to explore for better opportunities on the other side of the wall; little realizing how much potential lies within one’s own territory. Exploring other possibilities may be needed in some cases, but at times one is losing out on time when failing to explore the first choices at hand. True that there is always something better than what is at hand; but frequently going only for the former, may result in loss of the latter. Options are always available and open around us; yet they appear only when one is determined and willing to think, foresee, identify the goal or purpose as well as work with the available resources than being always on the hunt based on blind avarice for more.

“You can journey to the ends of the earth in search of success, but if you’re lucky, you will discover happiness in your own backyard.” Russell Conwell

There was once a wealthy man named Ali Hafed who lived not far from the River Indus. “He 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, and went to his 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, 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.
– Heart of the speech “Acres of Diamond”, later published as an essay by Russell H. Conwell (Source: Nine Pillars)