I live in a castle. I also work at a company in which I am surrounded by precious objects created by the imagination of the world. I am a diamond merchant. After working for a jewelry company for ten years, I ventured to California to make a positive impact on the western coast. That was thirty years ago. As I look around me, I sometimes wonder how I got here.
It is interesting that my essence has not changed. Problems were challenges. Fear was adventure. Failures were lessons. At that time, if you asked me the type of car I drove, I would have said a luxurious, earth-toned Ford. It was actually a dirty-brown and dented Mustang that was too tired to make a California journey. I did not dare selling the cranky vessel, for it was my symbol of triumph over a work demotion and the divorce from my newly wedded wife. I paid for it with a handful of crumbled cash, then hauled it two thousand miles across the United States.
I had nowhere to climb but upward. Arriving at the Golden State I met a beautiful Guatemalan girl named Carmen who would later become my soulmate. I still do not know what attracted Carmen to me. The contents of my moving truck proved I owned few possessions, so maybe she simply admired my blind confidence that set me apart from other suitors.
We soon become inseparable and I became a happy king. Our lives would begin to be filled with the wondrous abundance of the world.
For those who know me, you may argue that my home is not a castle, at least in the traditional definition of the word. I do not drive in a limousine. You also may not consider me a king. However, it is not the physical things that surround us that determine our happiness. Love, happiness and success are all determined from the perception of our hearts. We are all kings and queens, the world is our mansion, and the universe is the Silver Platter that offers all its wonders to each of us. My blue jeans are sown with the finest silk. My slice of bread is a delicious delicacy. The lone dandelion that appears in the Imperial Garden of my back yard is equal in beauty to the yellow roses. All we have to do is reach into the Silver Platter and take what is offered so freely.
Do you live in a castle?
What do you want? Who do you want to be? There is nothing stopping you from achieving all the happiness and success that life is ready to give you. Just be thankful. Just see the precious objects and beautiful people who already surround you. Just open your eyes.