Of Coal and Diamonds

The difference between a diamond and a piece of coal may be quite significant, but at it’s most basic level, it boils down to the arrangement of carbon atoms. The right arrangement will determine which you are.

Simplicity of complexity

The amount of pressure and heat that many carbon deposits face is beyond average comprehension. Very high heat and pressure has a way of changing the molecular arrangement of things. In the case of carbon, it moves the order of carbon around to handle the heat and pressure better. That new highly ordered arrangement results in a diamond.

So, in principle, you can convert coal to a diamond

The circumstances under which coal becomes a diamond is rather extreme. Happens under a massive layer of earth, dirt. The process can take time… quite a bit of time. Eventually, the geologic processes will raise that diamond, through volcanic activities, to higher places where humanity can reach it.

Not all diamonds see the light of day. Yet, they all have their amazing properties within themselves.

How does this tie into being the CEO of your home?

Life has a very interesting way of challenging every person and every home. The pressures one faces can be quite extreme. How one handles these pressures will say much about how the family will eventually come to be.

The worries about the economy; the level of education of the children; the rent/mortgage; car payments; public transportation costs; vacation destinations; blending the two cultures of the parents to create a unique one for the children; the input of in-laws; the differences between families of relatives; the list goes on and on.

The mounting lists of pressures families face today in an ever changing economic and political climate puts many challenges on a daily basis that affects health, sanity, tranquility, and ability to pursue happiness.

It is those trials and tribulations that lets you find out if you’re a lump of coal or a heap of diamonds. Challenges clarify the clarity of the substance being tested.

No matter how good your studies are, no matter how great your intentions, no matter how much advice taken, the only time one knows how great a parent they’ll be is to actually be a parent. That baptism by fire is how one knows exactly what one is made of.