Rich Lessons From David in Diamondonia
September 24th 2008 12:00 am
I recently wrote about a tale “David in Diamondonia” I heard when I was a child that still resonates with me years later. There are numerous lessons that can be learned from this simple story.
Here’s a few and then I’ll tell you about the one I thought of now decades later- that’s even more powerful than all of these.
- Know your goal. While working hard to get were you want you should keep in mind the goal. Often while working we forget the main goals and principles that cause us working so hard. (Martin Wildam)
- Think ahead. Instead of bringing money he should have brought candles – sell them for expensive and buy diamonds for those. (Martin Wildam)
- Value is a completely relative thing. It depends on: Who, Where, When (Martin Wildam)
- Give people what they want, not what you want.
- Trust but verify. Even the best and brightest aren’t always doing the best thing. They need to have some monitoring.
- Small gestures (of the right kind) can be worth much e.g. the diamond in his shoe.
But the lesson I recently thought of is that Diamonds (and money) are just our candle. Diamonds don’t do anything- they don’t make people happy, healthy or successful. Think about it- a diamond is just a glittery rock. Similarly dollars are just paper. Diamondonians aren’t stupider than us, we just have different value systems so we chase diamonds instead of candles. Because our world places such a high value on “diamonds”(material objects) we constantly strive for diamonds when we may be missing something more valuable. Certainly money or candles have value and are needed but at the end of the day they are only there to get you to your goal- they aren’t a goal.
Martin Wildam responded on 25 Sep 2008 at 12:13 pm #
I am not sure if I got your final lesson right, but actually no matter if candles or diamonds everybody somehow tries to get that what is needed to survive.
Diamonds, candles or money are just one things that have value and can be exchanged for other products that are needed for living also.
I agree with you that those things are just “tools” to get us to our goals but in the story (and in the real world) it somehow melts together – “getting rich is getting to your goals” – something like this. I am not sure how true this is, but it would be a very interesting discussion.
Actually from my point of view your final lesson is for me more a new issue that needs further thinking than it is a lesson.
Martin Wildam responded on 04 Oct 2008 at 4:14 pm #
I lately remembered the story about diamondia several times and I also do think now, that I also got your latest lesson yet.
There are really many lessons from this story.
BTW: I am reading now more often fairy tales to my little son. I think there are many fairy tales with many lessons we might have forgotten (or never understood). My little son is a good opportunity to read those stories again.
Martin Wildam responded on 05 Oct 2008 at 5:43 am #
Money (diamonds, candles) is only the tool – the main goal should be to be happy – how true!
http://1-2-solved.blogspot.com/2008/10/highly-happy-people.html
How a Simple Story Answers All of Life’s Questions | Success Making Machine responded on 05 Oct 2008 at 9:53 am #
[...] out Getting Started. Thanks for visiting!The recent fable I told about David in Diamononia had some powerful lessons. It can help lead to the answers to life’s many questions. Here’s some more specific [...]
Heshy responded on 05 Oct 2008 at 9:58 am #
You’re right money is only the tool.
Happiness is part of a worthy goal- but not “the goal” in my opinion. Happiness can lead to short term thinking. That’s why I loosely use the term “success” as the goal- it combines happiness, living in the moment (enjoying what your doing) and achievement/accomplishment.
Success= Think+Do+Enjoy
As I conclude in my latest post: “The unifying answer to all of these is our view of money, materialism and externalizes. You can count on those to make you a success or you can count on your soul.”
Martin Wildam responded on 05 Oct 2008 at 12:03 pm #
You are right that it can be a pitfall to think short-term when focusing on happiness. See also my comment at http://1-2-solved.blogspot.com/2008/10/highly-happy-people.html?showComment=1223226000000#c9204842153301408869