Oil, Coal, and Diamond: A Lesson in Perseverance

Normally I try to be more on the amusing and sarcastic side here at BB+B.  However, as it's finals week at my grad school and I've got a profoundly frightening committee meeting and annual report to present tomorrow, I find myself much more focused on the serious.  So, with your permission (and I assume I have it, otherwise I doubt you'd be coming to read my blog) I'd like to give a more motivational post, rather than amusing.

When I was a child, I was astonished to discover that coal and diamonds are essentially the same.  Chemically, at least, they're just compressed carbon, really.  At the molecular level, they're structurally similar, though the specific structure of diamond and coal vary both in physical and chemical characteristics. And lastly, another substance that is primarily made up of carbon or compressed carbon is oil:  Oil is less made up of carbon than diamonds and coal, but it is still a primarily carbon-based substance, with a few impurities and other elements tossed into the mix.

There is a similar concept in people, I believe:  When subjected to pressure, we have three options, and I believe there is an apt parallel between these carbon-based substances and human responses to pressure.
First, we can shrink away from the pressure, learning little and gaining little from our experiences. When pressure occurs, when the heat of the pressure begins to cook us, we can allow ourselves to be barraged and slammed without response, and though we don't give up completely, we also don't fight back or stand up for ourselves. This, in its own way, is how I see Coal:  Strong, in form, and relatively resistant to pressure, but always near the point of crumbling, always ready for one last ounce of pressure to shatter us down to dust.  This is not a good thing in life, though I'd daresay most people choose to be the 'coal' of people:  Stable, steady burning, but near collapse most of the time.

Second, we can collapse under pressure, and fall apart, therefore actually losing some of the strength we had to begin with.  This is what I see as the petroleum oil of people:  People who respond to pressure by withdrawing, giving up, and letting the pressure break them.  They lose a piece of themselves in this process, and are in some ways contaminated by their failure:  They're not without use, but they aren't the strong and stable people who they were before they cracked and crumbled under pressure, and now they spend most of their time hiding out under the proverbial rock, desperately seeking to escape their pressure and stresses, but always unable to do so.  These are the people who have given in to pressure, and have allowed themselves to give up.  I don't blame them, because sometimes the pressure is simply too much, and we all fall apart from time to time.  But the difference between success and failure is just how we respond to our stress and pressure.  Do we get back up and make a stand, or do we allow ourselves to be crushed beneath the weight of our burdens, broken beyond repair?  Being oil in your own life is a problem, because it means you never truly meet the resistance of life head on, and instead choose to give in or flee.  You offer little resistance, and cannot seem to hold your own when new forces arise.

The last option is to face our problems, our stresses and pressures and heat, head on.  We can struggle against pressure and heat and confusion and nervousness and overcome ourselves and our fears.  We can daily choose to meet our challenges with a stalwart mind and an unflinching gaze, and we can be forged into something greater as a result of our strength. This is the metaphorical diamond.  If we collapse and give in, we must choose to get back up.  If we are pushed by enormous stresses and pressure, we must choose to refuse the feelings of doubt and depression that overwhelm us. It may take time and many failures to succeed, but diamond does not form in a day: It takes ages of pressure, constant pushing and compression and heat and seemingly unbearable stress to make a diamond.  It isn't going to burn up when heat is applied, and it certainly won't shatter under weight, because the weight is has borne for thousands of years beforehand have helped forge it into an object of great durability and strength. Being the diamond isn't easy, and likely requires support from the outside, at times. Friends and family offer support, and help you resist the temptation to give in, and over time they help you to become a diamond, if you're willing to accept their assistance. A diamond is only forged under conditions of heat and pressure, and takes a great deal of time to fully strengthen, but once it has been strengthened it is nearly impervious to damage.  It can handle extreme heat, and more pressure. It can handle attacks to its surface and it can handle the hottest fires , and it does all of this without trouble.  It is a good thing to seek to be or become diamond, because it means you understand that life will at times be a heavy burden to bear, but you also recognize that you will, in time, overcome these struggles. You are a force of strength and power in a world that often seems overpowering.

Try to become a diamond.  Seek every day to meet your challenges without flinching, and recognize that your failures are not going to destroy you, but that they can build you up.  Remember that you are not defined by the times you fall down, but by the times that you stand back up.  Resist your own doubts, and conquer your own fears.  Give yourself thanks for your successes, and use your confidence to form a barrier around yourself. If you do all of this, then when trouble comes your way, you will be able to handle it, and overcome it. 

I hope that this post, however ranting and wordy it may be, reminds you that you are capable of great things.  I hope that this post reminds you that failure is not the same thing as being defeated.  I also hope that in time, you all forge yourselves into diamonds, and become capable of supporting those around you just as they have supported you in your own times of need. 

Hold fast, stay strong, and try to smile once in a while.
We'll return to our normal, amusing posts after this one.  Hopefully it didn't bother you over much to hear my speechifying.
Thanks for reading, and I appreciate your time reading BB+B!
-Brian, the Author guy.