Uncut Diamonds, A Lesson

In a small town in South Africa, a man spotted a boy in a field playing with a strange-looking stone. He took the stone from the boy, and when he showed it to a lapidary—an expert in gems—he discovered that it was actually a very large diamond!

You need to have the requisite expertise to examine precious stones and estimate their value. You need the same sort of ability when it comes to human beings too. Innumerable people are born into this world, but they do not have the same abilities. Some of them are born with a potential for special skills and abilities. But these skills and abilities are hidden. They don’t loudly announce themselves. They need a 'lapidary' to recognize them and to give them the opportunity to express themselves.

There are two ways in which a person’s hidden jewels can be recognized.

One way is that the person becomes so aware of himself that he can discover his hidden potentials. The other way is for someone who truly cares for him to come into his life and to recognize his jewels and to help him recognize them too.

Both these options aren’t easily available, though. To realize the jewels hidden inside you, you need to be extremely realistic. And

to be able to recognize the jewels hidden inside someone else and to help him realize them, you need to be genuinely concerned

about his well-being.

Experience tells us that these two qualities are exceedingly rare among people. And so, it very often happens that people who are born with hidden special capacities and abilities never go on to develop and express them in their lives. Sometimes, it is because they fail to discover these themselves. In other cases, it is because they do not find a sincere well-wisher who can help them draw out their latent potential.