Shine Bright Like A Diamond. . . . . .

Through personal crisis I have learned a few lessons that I want to share.  Before I start, I truly know that everything you go through is a lesson to be learned and the lesson is meant to shape you into a better person.  Sometimes the lessons are hard but we still learn.  I have learned that crisis brings out the true intent of people; you learn who truly has your best interest at heart; not everyone who calls themselves your friend is a friend; true friends will go to the end of the earth for you; to have great friends you must be a great friend; some people can talk a great game but actions are harder for them to act upon; and life is beautiful.  I could add more but that sums up what I have learned and it doesn’t take much to know what my words mean.  There are many things that have upset me during this time because I am one who likes to always be absolutely positive and think absolutely positive so when negative things intrude on my Pollyanna world, I become uncomfortable and it can easily turn my outlook dark if I choose to just reflect on one aspect of my situation.  In all things there is balance.  Not everything is positive and it takes the negative well to make one well rounded.  Diamonds aren’t shaped like pearls—it not years on smooth transition to form the diamond.  It takes heat and fire then the crystal is formed and once the process is over—you shine.  The interesting thing is, some people will only see the diamond that you are and never know the process that formed you.  As I sit and really become more introspective, I thank the universe and God for showing me things that I should know to be strong on this journey call life and like the Phoenix--my totem--and like a diamond—I shall rise and shine again.  I shall be the better because through my journey, I can reach back and help someone going through the same thing.  Through my lessons, I may be able to shed light on how to deal with adversity.  If I never go through it, how will I even know to empathize?  Sometimes empathy is needed not sympathy.