Pressure Makes Diamonds

As many of you know, I'm a bit of a TV junkie : ) The TV is on in our house most of the hours we're home, even just as background to my other activities. I've often wondered if my TV addiction was something I should be working on, but every once in a while, that little screen (or in our house, big screen) will pass along a tidbit of wisdom that reinforces its worth in my world.

While the majority of these gems of wisdom come from my beloved Gilmores (most recently in the inspirational quote: "I am kayak, hear me roar" - you had to be there : ) this most recent tidbit came in my newest secret love, What About Brian. Now, this show is not one I expected to fall for, and I never actually watch it when it airs. But, on a whim last fall I set my DVR to record it. Now, flopping on the couch to find out if Dave and Dina have reconciled, if Adam is finally having sex again or if Brian will pick the leggy blond or the "girl-next-door" brunette, has become one of my favourite guilty pleasures.

And I was doing just that yesterday while battling a mild flu bug, when I heard my new motto. When faced with a tough situation, rather than freaking out, one of the characters said, "Pressure makes diamonds" and forged ahead without looking back. And through my flu-induced stupor I had an epiphany!

To catch-up those of you who don't remember much about high school science class, (for more detail on the scientific facts, check with Tracey, resident science geek : ) the basics are, as I understand it, that if you put a coal-esque substance under enough pressure and turn up the heat, you eventually get a diamond.

I'm not sure where I learned that exactly, but that fact was buried somewhere in the in the back of my mind. But I really believe you hear info when you're really ready and open to hearing it, and for some reason this simple statement of fact reverberated through me Wednesday, giving focus to the attitude I've been trying to cultivate in my mind lately - when the pressure's on, the only way to be successful it to face the challenges head on.

Add to that the fact that I've secretly been a fan of the diamond for some time. I say secretly, as it's such a cliché for women to like diamonds that I've denied my love to protect my uniqueness in my own mind - engagement ring aside, of course : ) But diamonds are fascinating, and represent many of the qualities I aspire to. They are of course sparkly and beautiful, but they are also extremely hard and tough, having survived billions of years in the ground and a lot of processing to get to the form we enjoy. While most of the world focuses on the perfectly clear versions, they actually come in many different colours, all beautiful in their own right, and every stone is unique, with little imperfections here and there, like the scars of the challenges they faced to get to this point.

I actually bought myself a little diamond ring with some bonus money from work last fall. Wanting something lasting to remind me of my hard work and successes, it was hard to think of anything more suitable. Add to it's characteristics the fact that diamonds are traditionally something women wait to be given, the act of buying one for myself was also a small act of defiance of the idea that we should sit around and wait for what we want - just go out and get it yourself!!

So where has all this diamond rambling taken us? I have a new motto, a focus for the idea of taking control of my life, a mantra to use when things get tough, reminding me great things rarely come without some sort of struggle. And I owe it all to my longtime companion, my TV : )