 Friends      |  keep_fighting: Not seen you around in some time. Concerned about your well-being. Hoping that you are still choosing life and making the best out of what life offers as bad as it may be. 10 months ago • Report • Link 0  Painted_Turtle: What's wrong with country? What's wrong with conservative? What's wrong with believing in God? If it offends you, get over it. Painted_Turtle: going down my friends list. some of you will stay on there by default but many of the peeps on there i don't even know. if you want to sty on there send me a message please Painted_Turtle: Often we can feel defeated by life; hardened in some way and unable to see light. Sometimes we feel so damaged for whatever reason, we develop behaviors and defense mechanisms that aren't effective and push others out of our lives, even if we desperately want them in our lives. We can perceive these behaviors as a sign of stength; a way to survive the inevitablr truth: "everybody leaves". This is a self defeating thought process that can devestate our lives. That is not strength. That is FEAR. There is no eliminating fear, but we can manage our responses to it. Courage is not the lack of fear, but rather the determination that we can walk through fear. The choices we make in the face of what we considere adversity are often part of what defines our character. When we respond in an honest way, and choose not to linger in denial, instad of lashing out, being abrasive or just plain shutting down, we allow ourselves to live as complete people. Society has and continues to lead us to believe that perfection is desirable, ahould and is expected by ourselves and others, and is actually acheivable. None of these things are entirely true, if true at all. Our imperfections; the scars inflicted on us simply by living, are a big part of what shapes us, and everybody has them. No one has ever been untouched by the trials and difficulties of lving life as humans on planet earth and nobody ever will. It's part of the whole of our existence and these experiences are what teaches us important life lessons, like work ethic, how to be member of a family and a society and very simply, how to treat ourselves and others. It all a matter of how we perceive these lessons and apply them in our lives that really defines the outcome. Negative self talk and assumtions are rarely representative of what others really think of us. We are never as good, nor as bad as we or other people think we are, and people when we honestly love ourselves and others we look at the sum total of a life; a persons assets and their liabilites before we make judgements about a their value and worthiness, and we should afford ourselves the same courtesy. How we treat ouselves emulatea how we encourage others to treat us. Consider these thoughts. Diamonds are very hard. They are classically viewed as the hardest material found on Earth and measure 10 on the mohs scale of hardness. However they are not considered the strongest substance on the planet; sometimes hard and strong are not synonymous, no matter what we have been led to believe. In fact some substances are so rigid that they fail under stress or are just down right impossible to work with. Though a good diamond can be attractive, they are often over-priced, ordinary and boring. A diamond is made entirely of carbon atoms which are joined in a lattice-type structure. Each atom is a set distance from the next, and moving two of them closer or further away requires sudden and extreme force. This makes the diamond incredibly hard and is why it is able to scratch any other material. Since diamonds are one of the hardest materials, special diamond-coated surfaces are used to grind the diamond down. This is how they make them "attractive". The diamond industry is not always intersted in the quality of a diamond, just the monatary value, so things like clarity and brilliance ore often sacrificed to maximize yeild. Larger diamond are considered more valuable to the average person, though this is rarely true in reality. Quality is what makes something valuble, not appearances. We, as human beings, are more like emeralds. Emeralds measure between 7.5 and 8 on the mohs scale. They are considerably softer than diamonds, but strong enough to be durable. Emeralds tend to have numerous inclusions and surface-breaking fissures. "Inclusions” are basically the result of a material being trapped in the stone during its formation. Inclusions are considered to be flaws in other stones like diamonds which require complete clarity, but they are appreciated in the Emerald business and add to the stone’s charm and natural beauty. Fissures, also known as feathers, are the most common inclusion in emeralds. They are found in emeralds all over the world and so are not seen as undesirable unless they are large in quantity. They look like small cracks or fractures in the emerald – hence the name fissure – and occur naturally in the mineral, sometimes permeating throughout the gemstone. An overabundance of fissures, however, can compromise the durability of the stone so this is something to be cautious about.Though these imperfections, as they are often perceived, can weaken the gem and cause it to be brittle, making it subject to breaking , chipping, splintering or cracking, they are also unique for each emerald and can be used to identify a particular stone or authenticate a stone as genuine. In fact, Emeralds are notorious for their flaws. These are expected characteristics of emeralds. Emeralds are made from 4 elements that are found deep in the Earth's crust: beryllium, aluminum, silicon, and oxygen. These elements are found flowing in veins filled with hot water called hydrothermal veins. When the conditions are just right in these veins and the cool down, the emerald crystals start to form. Geologically speaking, emeralds are very unusual. They are sometimes referred to as "the gem stone that should never be" by gemologogists. Their chemistry combines rare elements from entirely different depths of the Earth, which means there aren't many places where they can form. These elements have to come together naturally, and simply by the nature in which they are formed in the ground they are rare and almost guarunteed to be flawed. The imperfections, however,+ add to the beauty and character of the stone. Unlike diamonds, where the loupe standard of 10× magnification, is used to grade clarity, emeralds are graded by eye. Thus, if an emerald has no visible inclusions to the eye (assuming normal visual acuity) it is considered flawless. Stones that lack surface breaking fissures however, are extremely rare. Almost every Emerald that has ever been pulled from the ground will contain some sort of fissure or tiny fractures. These inclusions are natural and are part of the Emerald but it is always desirable to reduce the visual impact of these fissures. That is why Emeralds are routinely treated using natural oil which hides the fissures, but it is the authenticity and rarity of the stone that gives it it's great value and character, not merely the perceived attractiveness. Like emeralds, people that have no visible imperfections are rare. Even then, they only appear to be flawless. When we truly choose to see a person as human, including ourselves, it will be through their imperfections, not just their perceived strengths that their character and attractiveness will become apparent. . Painted_Turtle: i posted a rough draft of an essay on my blog. friends, please read and comment. please be honest. gentle is not required nor, expected. thank you. Painted_Turtle: Silence, dense and heavy. A stone slipping through the murky water of my mind. Laughter and tears, a thousand conversations. I hear them now. Your voice, a whisper. Your silence, concern. Thoughtful reflection. Memories and nothing more. Reaching now through the darkness. Searching. Grasping for words unheard, thoughts unsaid, that one exchange to give me peace, but..... SILENCE. |
