I want you to imagine a diamond. One like you would see in a display case in a jewelry store, one like you’d put in an engagement ring. Or a pendant necklace. A diamond. Brilliant, rare, genuine, pure, priceless, created with extreme pressure and extreme heat. Each with its own inclusions, or “flaws.”
There are people that hunt for diamonds. People come from all over the world to diamond rich countries just to get diamonds. There are people who literally war over diamonds, who fight for rights to the land that these beauties are born from.
Now take that diamond…
Wear it on a ring…
Put it in a display case…
Hide it away in a closet…
Throw it into the gutter in the street…
Cover it in mud…
Reject it…
Ignore it….
Trade it for something with more “color…”
Now let me pose a few questions:
- Does the diamond lose its value depending on where it is or where you find it?
- Does it lose its value just because nobody knows its value or sees its price tag?
- If I am offered a diamond and reject it, does the diamond lack value?
- If 100 people walk by a diamond and nobody notices it, is it worth nothing?
- If you find the diamond covered in filth and laying in the gutter, is it worth any less?
No. No. No, and No. A diamond is a diamond is a diamond.
Are you tracking with me yet?
You are the diamond, my friend. You are beautiful, rare, one in a million. Brilliant, priceless, pure. You are immeasurably valuable no matter what situation or scenario you find yourself in. No matter who sees it. No matter if 100 people walk by you and fail to notice you. No matter who claims you, or not.
If your partner doesn’t “get” you. If your community can’t see your shine. If your loved one leaves you. If you are covered in mud and lying in the gutter. If you have failed, again. If you can’t see your own brilliance anymore. If your friends don’t recognize how genuine you are. If nobody can see the journey you’ve taken and the pressure and heat you’ve experienced. If someone is hiding you away. If you are hiding yourself away. If nobody has chosen you. If you are rejected, again. If nobody has warred over you.
It doesn’t matter, a diamond is a diamond is a diamond. No matter.
Now go. Embrace your immeasurable and unchangeable worth, and shine the shine that only you have. The world needs you.
