Coals or Diamonds?

If someone were to ask you would you rather be a piece of coal or a diamond, I would like to think that most people would sarcastically respond, "uh diamond.....of course."

But do you know how diamonds are made? Neither did I!

I'm currently reading Miracles Can Happen by Mary Kay Ash and in the chapter, plan your life like you plan your vacation (we do lots of those! wink) she mentions that "a diamond was once just a hunk of coal until it was put under pressure and polished to perfection."

This really propelled me to the thought, "are most of us willing to be put under pressure to become the diamonds we were meant to be"? We all want to be diamonds but sometimes it's hard to go through the process of "polish and pressure." so naturally what does it mean to be polished? Polish is defined as to make smooth and glossy, especially by rubbing or friction. Ouch! who wants that? most of us want to be polished by sitting comfortably on our couch in front of the television eating oreos and drinking milk (oh is that just me??? ). And what does it mean to be pressured? Pressure means the exertion of force upon a surface by an object. This reminds me of statements like "don't pressure me! I'm feeling pressured! Ah, the pressure!!" So if this is what it takes to be a diamond, is coal really looking all that bad anymore? 


Truth is if we want anything great in life, we will be polished, pressured, frustrated, rejected, frictionized, scared, alone maybe even rubbed...(the wrong way that is). But it's all just part of the process. There's definitely nothing wrong with coal. there's many uses for it which i won't go into here. But God does have a plan for your life and this reminds me of that famous quote by Maryann Williamson in A Return to Love that says:


Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”


Last time I checked, coal doesn't shine. Diamonds do! So go get pressured and polished today and let that little light start shining that is truly inside all of us!