Diamonds are made under pressure. I too have been formed under pressure. I am a diamond.

Since I was a little girl, I’ve been fascinated by rocks and minerals. I was attracted by the many colors and sparkles of the rocks found around my childhood home. I collected Geodes before I even knew what a “Geode” was. I was fascinated by its natural beauty and put on display shows for my family.

As I got older, I learned more about the science behind minerals and diamonds. Incredibly, any slight change in the chemical structure or amount of pressure can drastically change a crystals’ shape, size, color, and texture. It’s really beautiful when you consider this in the context of life. So often we view big daunting tasks and goals as “life-altering”, like graduating college, getting married, having children… The truth is though, I’ve often found the little things to be the catalyst for transformational change.

I’ve always been somewhat particular. Some may call it OCD, I call it aligned and purposeful. My Mom recognized early on that I needed to harness my need for perfection and had a plan to teach me patience and perseverance. She got me into figure skating when I was 7. Figure skating to me is less like jazz and more like a symphony. It’s melodic, but purposeful, it’s graceful, but athletic. It was HARD, but I was GREAT.

Nothing inspired me as a kid more than putting on my skates and getting out on the ice. When I’d fall, I’d get right back up enthusiastically. I wanted to be great from Day 1, but it would require patience. It would require pressure. It would require perseverance.

Eventually, because of an injury, I had to hang up my skates. I spent 3 years devoted to a goal, creating the pressure to become a figure skating diamond. As disappointed I was in the outcome, there was a silver lining. Having something I cared about being forcibly taken away from me at no fault of my own taught me an important lesson: I’d never quit. I’d never start something without purposefully finishing it.

Just as Diamonds are mined, I too needed to be unearthed. My confidence uncovered. My beauty fully realized both inside and out. For most of my life, I felt like I was a rough mound of coal, never realizing – and even being afraid of my own future. Under all this pressure of navigating life, how can I possibly become a diamond?

What I’ve come to embrace, is that precious time it takes to incubate a diamond. The sweet and sour moments it takes to wait for the sparkling diamond to shine. This journey has taught me my purpose. This transformation is what I see in other people and their potential. I don’t see coal, I see the brilliant jewel they are; and the little girl in me wants to put them on display for the whole world to see.