Listen to the voice of your heart

There was a man in Africa who was extremely rich; he had lands beyond sight and wealth beyond measure.

At his castle a gypsy came and prophesied that in Africa there is a huge mine field which is replete with diamonds, and the one who could find even a small part of it could buy a country of his own. The rich man got curious and decided to go on an odyssey to find that piece of land. Nights and days he spent in planning and visualising about the mine field and the unknown lands of the country. He needed resources for this journey so he decided to sell his land and get the money for his journey. He had the determination of a lion chasing its prey, visualising that he would be the owner of a country one day. He collected his valuables and went on the search. He travelled long distances in the search of the land, days converted into weeks and weeks into years and finally he was broke! He didn’t had the money to take his journey forward, the food supply got over and there was no water left. He finally died in the arid lands of Africa. The story is painful because it ended in the death of the protagonist. But the story starts here! The man who bought the land from the rich man was strolling in his newly occupied land and he saw a black stone. He took it to his home and kept it as a show piece. A friend came to his house and saw this stone and shouted “This black stone is a diamond”. The man said, “I have plenty of such stones in my land”. Both explored the land and saw that the land was a mine of diamonds, biggest in the country and hence the man’s life changed. This story is quite similar to the story in the book “Acres of Diamonds”, which gives us a simple yet profound message that “Your treasure lies where you are”.

This rich man did the greatest mistake by not trusting what was given to him by the universe. His greatest life began to end when he started to make decisions based on the opinion of others. Today, people make decisions based on what other people think and they lose the treasure they have been blessed with. Before taking up a job they will visualise what the neighbours will say, how the friends will react and what the parents might think! A is copying B, B is copying C, C is copying D and D is again copying A. Nothing new can occur in your life if you hold on to ‘what people have to say’. In Hindi language there is a saying, “Sabse bada rog, kya kahenge log”, means the greatest disease in life is being concerned about what people have to say about you! People now days force themselves into situations which are not made for them and then get upset. They usually say, “This is what destiny has in store for me”. They forget that destiny is the calling of their heart, the melody of the song that has been given to them. But if they shut the inner voice by not taking the decisions that their heart believes in, they shut the doors to their ultimate life.

Sometimes you must be willing to trust the universe in its entirety and the possibilities it has to offer. Listen to others but don’t lose your own voice. A song has been given to you and only you can make it come alive.

You are the means through which the voice of the universe will be expressed in the world. The voice of the heart is your calling, ignoring this voice would be ignoring the call of the universe for you. It doesn’t matter what people say - doctors may say, “It’s the end”, your manager may say, “Your career is over”, a lover may say “I don’t belong with you”, your business partners may say, “We are backing out”, people around may say “You are doomed”, but all what matters is what you say to yourself. What matters is whether you say, “I am worthy or worthless”, “I am failure or I am a success”, “I am a fighter or a loser”, “I am a victim or a victor”, and that makes all the difference.