A Field of Diamonds

The glistening of the sun on snow

A Field of Diamonds

“When the rain falls, it falls on the whole field.”  Yah Yah Al-Digs said as he smiled at me.

We were talking about company profits then.  I took it at its face value and thought I had understood what he was saying in totality.  Yet, as the years have progressed it has become clear to me that I didn’t know then, and likely will never know, the whole meaning of that treasure-trove proverb.  In the many years since I left Yah Yah, and our office in the Middle East, it has proven to be just like life itself.  Its meaning deepens over minutes, hours, years and decades.

On one glorious morning three days ago, I captured one of those minutes by taking a glimpse outside through a window of my home, only to find that one peek was not enough.  The sky over head was a deep blue.  The sun had recently crawled above the Oquirrh Mountains and its rays revealed an entire field of diamonds!  Of course, my property had not under gone some miraculous transformation into real, stone diamonds.  But, something miraculous was certainly occurring.

The sun was glistening on the snow.  It truly looked like an unfathomable treasure, and it was.  I will not soon forget this magnificent sight or the depth of my appreciation for its splendor.  I desired to hold on to its sight forever.

So, I got my camera and attempted to memorialize it.  Alas!  I am not skilled in photography and my efforts held no reward.  Well, there was one other reward.  Yah Yah’s proverb came flooding back into my memory.  I knew immediately that this exceptional visual and emotional experience had opened the door for me to appreciate another aspect, a deeper meaning, of “When the rain falls, it falls on the whole field.”  I continued to absorb the glistening in front of me, knowing that it was there for anyone, everyone who wanted to relish it. 

Our world offers its beauty freely to all who will take notice, seek for and accept it.  It is offered to everyone as perhaps, life’s greatest treasure.  It can change us, while stirring the depths of our souls if we will be mindful and allow it to freely unfold throughout our life.

“When the rain falls, it falls on the whole field.”  Yah Yah Al-Digs said as he smiled at me.

We were talking about company profits then.  I took it at its face value and thought I had understood what he was saying in totality.  Yet, years later, the glistening snow diamonds viewed through the windows of my home changed me, and it became clear that I didn’t know then, and likely will never know, the whole meaning of that treasure-trove proverb.  It has proven to be just like life itself.  Its meaning and beauty deepens over minutes, hours, years and decades.

Before the Dawn

"The lessons I learned from my biggest failures 10 years ago are the very lessons that people now pay me big amounts of money to help them overcome and achieve." – Vic Johnson

Before the Dawn

We just finished 2018.  The 8 in that date is significant.  It is significant for a couple of reasons.  First, in 2008 the world faced one of the largest financial challenges in history.  Second, almost every single person had the opportunity to learn life changing lessons as a result.

Napoleon Hill said, "Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of equal or greater benefit."

Here is the thing, we all have the opportunity to turn failure into success, to turn adversity into lessons learned, challenges into resolve, but it's up to us to see the vision of possibility and have the faith and resolve to get back up and keep moving toward our goals. And when we do that, it is guaranteed that we’ll have something of great benefit to share with others.

I was sitting in an office tower, the other day, carefully reviewing the details of a very difficult business transaction when my friend Kyle Christensen came in to share some information with me.  We sat talking comfortably, so I took the opportunity to lift my burden by discussing one of my current challenges.  He’s always been kind enough to give me good, level headed counsel & he could tell I was in distress, so he encouraged me by quoting a common saying as a way to quickly shift my thinking.

“It’s always darkest before the dawn!”  He said.

It is a simple saying to be sure.  And, it reminded me of what Vic Johnson and Napoleon Hill also taught me in their books.  So, I’ve spent the last couple of days remembering conquered challenges and then recounting the lessons I’ve learned as a result.  And, you know what?  That little exercise changed my whole mood much more quickly than the time it takes to conclude a decade!

We just finished 2018.  The 8 in that date is significant.  It is significant for a couple of reasons.  First, in 2008 the world faced one of the largest financial challenges in history.  Second, almost every single person had the opportunity to learn life changing lessons as a result.  And, you know what?

The lessons I learned from my biggest failures over the past 10 years are the very lessons that have yielded seeds of equal or greater benefit!

One, Amazing Miracle

“I want to thank everyone for the well wishes, thoughts and prayers for my son and our family.  He is home and recovering well.  The outcome and prognosis could not be better.” – Brian Gottfredson

One, Amazing Miracle

We were in a large, two-tiered theater.  The seats were comfortable and I had a great view.  There was a presenter at the front of the stadium and I could see him well.  I could also see the other participants well.  And, to tell you the truth, I spent more time looking around at the other participants than I did the presenter.  Perhaps it was because I had a larger connection with them.  And, one of my strongest personal connections was sitting to my left and down one or two rows.

Brian Gottfredson caught my eye and I looked at him carefully.  There was something different about his face.  No, it wasn’t that he had shaved, or had a black eye or anything.  He simply looked different.  So, I studied him as I listened, right up to the end of the multi-hour-long presentation.  The presentation’s end was my cue to approach him, so I walked over and began to talk. 

Brian is a man with deep passion.  And, I could see that the passion had been replaced.  No.  Not replaced.  His expression somehow reflected look of total commitment, sadness, concern, hope and weight that had never been there before.

“My son had cardiac arrest.”  He seemed to almost whisper to me, as we conversed around things of suddenly declining importance.

“Your son from Alaska?” I responded in disbelief.

“Yes.”  He said, just before he recounted, perhaps, the most miraculous story I have ever heard.

His son, with a friend, was gliding out to ski the back country at one of Salt Lake’s Resorts as soon as the area opened, when he dropped to the ground in a heap.  As you can imagine, his friend, with little medical training had no idea what had happened or what to do.  Now.  Consider the chances of three people right behind them, doctors and nurses, who immediately began CPR, called for a sled and ambulance while getting and keeping blood and oxygen moving continuously through his body!  What are the odds?

“They got him to Intermountain Medical Center, diagnosed the problem and fixed it!”  Brian said.  “I’m on my way to meet with the doctors at the hospital right now.  My son is in great shape and healthy, so for him to go into cardiac arrest was the strangest thing!  Now he is asking, ‘Why me?’”

“Perhaps he would be better served by asking a different question?”  I replied.  “What can I learn from this experience?”

“Or, isn’t life fragile and can change at any moment?”  Brian said thoughtfully.

One more thing, I’ve thought about, over and over again, is how Brian’s whole world shrunk throughout this experience, and how Brian’s whole world expanded throughout this experience!

Brian, rightfully, dropped almost everything to be at his son’s side during his time of need.  He comforted his son’s wife and little boy.  He focused on his own wife.  That’s the new look of passion I could see in his face.  It was a look of total commitment, sadness, concern, hope and weight focused on his small world.

At the same time, Brian’s small world was expanded beyond his focus.  Perhaps I can demonstrate such expansion by allowing you to read the email he sent to those he works with.

“I want to thank everyone for the well wishes, thoughts and prayers for my son and our family.  He is home and recovering well.  The outcome and prognosis could not be better.”

Brian and his family are living their miracle!  They see it.  They feel it.  And, many others are doing the same!  It’s as if we’re all in a large, two-tiered theater.  The seats are comfortable and we’re all enjoying a great, miraculous view.  Brian’s son and family are at the front of the stadium and we see them for the miracle they are.  Brian’s family is seeing us, the other participants, that have expanded their world as well.  And, to tell you the truth, I think they are spending as much time looking around at us in a new, more connected way.  Perhaps it’s because we all, now, have a larger, stronger connection due to one, amazing miracle.