Discovering People’s Hidden Potential: Digging Rare Diamonds From Dirt

Just like digging diamonds from a pile of dirt – that’s how discovering people’s hidden potential is like. We’ll never know what a person is capable of unless we see them beyond the visible.

I was reading a leadership book, Multiplication Challenge, and I stumbled upon an interesting illustration about diamonds. It says:

“In a best-case scenario, in the world’s most diamond-rich mining locations, about one hundred tons of dirt must be removed per carat of diamonds. In the average diamond mining locations, 1,000 tons of dirt yield one carat of diamonds. That’s a lot of dirt to remove in order to discover a small number of diamonds.” (Murrel and Murrel, 2017)

I realized that in one way or another, we are all polished diamonds in the making. While some have been found out, polished, and are already flaunting their sparkling beauty, some of us still lie beneath the surface, waiting to be removed from the dirt. We all have potential, we all have a purpose. However, we have different seasons. Some are being fleshed out from the dirt, some are awaiting discovery.

If it’s Not Hidden, there’s no need to Discover

It’s easy for us to look at people with “sparkling” personality as if they’re the only real deal. We look up to them. We try to pattern our lives with them. But if we look around us, we will discover that a lot of people are waiting for us to lift them out of the dirt and help them to find their “beauty” within themselves.

• We look at the old cab driver and see him just as he is – an old cab driver trying to make both ends meet.
• The “mommy” usher in the church – simply a married woman who tries not to miss her Sunday routine in spite of her marital problems.
• We try to ignore and not give much of a concern to that unruly teenage neighbor because we think we have more things to attend to than spend time with a “delinquent” juvenile.

Only those with glittery lives catch our attention.

But what if we begin to invest in the lives of ordinary folks within our reach? What if, while waiting for our complete transformation to become flawless diamonds ourselves, we try to unearth some people from the dirt, help them clean them up, and speed up their “makeover” process? The concept may seem odd and vague but I think you know what I mean – let us add value to people, help them in their respective journeys, and believe in what they are capable to do. Let’s give them hope, encourage them, and share our lives with them. Let’s begin to look at them as who they really are – a diamond!

In order for a diamond to be a sparkling diamond, it must be unearthed first.

Discovering for Hidden Potential

Unearthing is not easy. It means work. It is messy and will get your hands dirty. But only if we get our hands dirty can we find a diamond in a pile of dirt. Are you ready to get your hands dirty? Are you willing to get dirty? If one can find a diamond in a pile of dirt, I bet he’ll say “it’s worth it!”

I am once a resident of the dirt, wallowing in the filthiness of circumstances and personal view of life. But some people helped me up and encouraged me to see life the way God sees it. Then I began to see that I am not a product of my circumstances but I am a child of God. I saw the beauty of life. I discovered that I am not worthless because I am treasured by the Lord. This is because some people saw past through the dirt in me and saw me as a diamond.

I know you have a story to share too! Now share your story with others and begin investing in a life today. Do a good deed, an act of kindness. Look at people pass through their façade. Discovering people’s hidden potential is like digging diamonds from dirt. It’s hard work, yes. But who knows, you might be living under the same roof with a precious diamond.