Day 2 – Write something that someone told you about yourself that you never forgot.

I was at a conference/retreat a few years ago where the theme was diamonds. It had to do with how are each truly a diamond on the inside. For some it may take years of digging, shaping and polishing, but we all have the potential to shine bright like the diamond we ultimately were created to be.

Diamonds

One of the women in leadership addressed me directly. She did not address MY personal “diamondness”. What she said was “You are one of those who sees into others, to the diamond on the inside of them. You are one who can help shape and polish people to see who they really are”. She did not know me well, but the things she said described me perfectly, and it was not the first time it has been said in some way. I’ve spent a lot of years working with groups and individuals from different walks of life like: churches, ministries, the mission field, schools etc. In the past I never really thought about what I was doing as anything other than just helping with a current need, but over the years I have come to learn that peoples’ lives have been changed. People had begun to believe in themelves and were repeating back to me things I had said or done that had helped them. I had been harvesting diamonds for as long as I can remember.

If you only knew

If you knew me personally, you would understand how hard that was for me to write. I had a hard time choosing what to write for this prompt. I wanted to tell of all the bad things that have been said that I still remember, but I thought how redeeming would that be? What good would it do me or anyone else to repeat those words? I chose to share the good in order to nurture the good.

It’s not bragging

We seem to believe as a society that it is not ok to be proud of ourselves, that to tell of our accomplishments is haughty and puffed up. We go around keeping anything we’re good at tucked down where no one can see it. It makes it nearly impossible to write a resume or go to an interview where someone says “tell me about yourself and tell why we should hire you”. We feel ashamed to be gifted. You know what? THAT IS STUPID!!! We should be proud of the things we are good at doing. WE are the ones DOING them.

Everyone has gifts

Everyone has gifts, talents, and abilities and the option to perfect them with extra time and practice. I encourage you today to look deep inside of yourself and ask “what am I good at? what am I passionate about? what do I really want to do?”. When you get some answers, go after it, work hard, and be proud of yourself.

You are a diamond!!!