Consider the Pearl....

This is a photo of two "do it yourself" pearl kits I got while I was in Florida. Well, actually, I bought them at the Fort Myers airport gift shop, so that gives you some idea of just how kitschy they are. The kits included a preserved whole oyster, and a charm necklace, with the inserts that direct you to slice open the oyster and find your (guaranteed) pearl within. There are five possible colors of pearls, they tell you, each one signifying a different promise.

Of course, I couldn't resist. I bought not one, but two kits, hoping to find the signs of glory and richness (in life and spirit, not just in dollars) buried within.

So, I eagerly sliced open my oysters, hoping to find those lavender and pink pearls -the rarest ones, of course - only to find two very ordinary white pearls.

Not that the white pearls aren't special and wonderful. I have long admired the pearl above most other gemstones because of its meanings. And, of course, no two pearls are identical in size and shape. They, like snowflakes, are unique.

And last night I got to pondering my pearls, putting perspective and purpose to my thoughts.

Let us take a moment and consider the pearl.

What a truly remarkable creation, the pearl. It begins as a grain of sand, an irritant, that finds its way into the ducts of an oyster. The oyster, in order to protect itself from the chafing of the sand, begins to produce a protective layer that envelopes the sand and stops the irritation. Over time, this tiny grain of sand becomes engulfed in the material that is the pearl.

A thing of beauty, begun with a sharp irritation.

And that made me think about my own life. It made me think about the current obstacles that stand before me. It made me think about how I might, in my own way, turn my grains of sand into pearls.

For isn't what matters how we respond to what the world throws at us?

All of us face those tiny specks that chafe and scrape and irritate the crap out of us.

How wonderful to be like the pearl and, instead of ending up bruised, bleeding, and injured, turning that source of irritation into an asset, a thing of beauty to behold.

So, in deference to the wisdom of the pearl, I vow to start producing my own sparkle out of grit. And when I get the next (inevitable) email referencing how remarkable it is that I have managed to overcome this "difficult and stressful year", instead of letting it make me mad, I will turn it into a positive and marvel that I have, indeed, managed to keep my head held high when others believed I would curl up and wither.

The oyster would do no less. It produces something of tremendous value when irritated. Something truly unique and without equal.

So will I. Just watch me.

So, remember the pearl. Such a small wonder, we often overlook it's true magnificence.

You go, pearl.