What you see is not what you get... initially

I wasn’t sure of my beginnings or origins, but I could still remember that fateful day when I was awaken by the sounds of spades rustling through the soil above me. It was followed by shouts of elated humans from a near distance. Before I could make out what was happening, spots of light were shone on me. Carefully, they removed me from my resting place of a thousand years and I was finally free from the darkness and pressure. I found out later that my home was miles below ground level.

When the last bits of soil were removed from my body, I finally could see the happy faces around me. Some of them were talking about buying a new home, new clothes, going on holidays and stuff like that because of me. I stared at those men and pondered about how foolish they were to think that a piece of God-forsaken rock like me could bring happiness to them.

I was not prepared for the next phase of my life. They violated me. First, they used a sharp tool to remove certain parts of my body that did not seem to fit. It was painful. Then they used another tool with a rough tip to go through every part of my body. It was humiliating. The whole process took a long time. I was always under bright lights and exposed for all to see. Interestingly, when it was over, I was starting to feel good about myself.

Soon, I was put on display. For the first time, I was able to see how I looked like in the mirror next to me. From the corner of my eye, I discovered that I sparkled majestically and brilliantly under bright lights. I dazzled every woman who came to see me. Not long later, someone removed me from my display stand. That was the beginning of my pride and glory. Ever since that day, I was moved from places to places. But the place I felt most at home was just below the neck of women and slightly above their cleavage.

And that was more tha
200 years ago. Today, most of these women have passed on from this life, but I am still around, more precious and valuable than ever. I wish I can contact some of my friends who insisted on staying miles below the ground level and tell them about my wonderful life. But they felt more comfortable in that dark and hot place.

This is just my short story. You can say that I started my life as an uncut diamond. Beneath the soil and mud lies the hidden brilliance and sparkle of God’s greatest rock. But it needed to go through the process of change where the most critical part is the ‘cutting process of removing the blurred edges to expose the almost perfect texture’ and revealing the true appearance of the diamond.

Everyone resembles an uncut diamond. Beneath the dull surface is hidden greatness and excellence. However, some of us never really reveal that part of our life because we resist change. These people are not willing to let go of their comfort zone to tread on new grounds.

Today, if you want to see greatness in your life, start embracing change in your life. Like an old house that needs to be pulled down before the new one can be built, so is your life if you want to see success. Do not settle for who you are today. George Elliot, an English novelist of the 19th century, said that ‘it is never too late to become what you might have become.’

Learn to see change as your teacher, exposing your strengths and weakness. We may fail in some things through the change but like what Vince Lombardi said, ‘it's not whether you get knocked down; it's whether you get up.’ Along the way, we learn from success and failures. We also learn how to sing a new song in good times and in bad times.

And continue to dream big dreams. Dreams are not made in heaven, but realized through sweat, tears and hard work on the platform of change. Dreams remind us of who we are. Someone once said to ‘never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than one with all the facts.’

In the meantime, keep repeating to yourself, ‘It ain’t over till it’s over’.