Quote of the Day

"No pressure, no diamonds."
-- Thomas Carlyle

I love that quote! Obviously as a self-proclaimed diamond junkie ;o) I like it. But there's so much more to it than that.

As scientists tell us, diamonds are formed deep beneath the earth's surface. They are made up of pure carbon, enduring immense pressure and heat for millions of years. This relentless heat and pressure is what hardens the carbon and ultimately makes it become the rare and beautiful jewel we know as a diamond.

Isn't life like that, too?

When things are g-ooooo-d, we be-bop through life, whistling a tune, and that's great! Sometimes I think we can also tend to start feeling somewhat *smug*. That's not-so-great.

And unfortunately for all of us, life isn't always "g-ooooo-d". Sometimes life can be hard and dark and sad... and we can be laid low by problems, adversity, and tragedy.

What happens to us then?

It's time like that -- when things are hard, and we muster strength, courage, and endurance, and we hang on to it with everything we've got... when we keep on breathing in and breathing out and putting one foot in front of the other... that we can truly become strong.

And don't we come out on the other side of those kinds of experiences with more compassion, more grace, more patience, more wisdom? It's as if these external pressures can show us what we're made of.

We may be carbon going into it, but if we hang in there... we can be a diamond coming out of it.


Photo courtesy of *here*.