Diamonds are Pearls of Wisdom.

My father is a wise man. He gives me advice about work issues, relationship issues; how to discipline my kids. But the best piece of advice I have ever gotten from my father came when I was a junior in high school and not really taking my studies seriously. I had everything but school on my mind. I was resentful of his new family and can remember writing him a hot little letter giving him a piece of my mind. I thank God for the gift of words. I have always been able to express myself best on paper. In one of his responses he wrote to me, "The world does not applaud mediocrity." I didn't even know what the root word, mediocre, meant until I went to the dictionary. In short, I found that mediocre meant average. It meant as much to me then as a lump of coal. But I never forgot it. And over the years, that lump of coal that I tucked away into the far corners of my mind, has proven to be a diamond. In essence, what he was telling me was that I can't expect to succeed at anything if I blend in with the crowd. I have found that advice to be valuable in virtually every aspect of my life. Even as an African-American woman, I have come to terms over the years with the fact that every thing I do must be done with a flair of excellence if I have even the most remote desire of being recognized. In the workplace, the theme is very much the same. I have always felt the need and the drive to work harder, do more. Even in relationships, my aim is to set the bar high because the playing field of love for black women is far from being level. I found myself reiterating the same advice to my teenagers last night. As the words spilled from my lips I felt like my father must have felt the day he took pen in hand and tried to give me some words I could feel; some heartfelt advice that carried weight. I told them average black boys and girls don't get noticed, they get passed over. Mediocre talent is not recognized, it's overlooked. I wonder if they got the message. I wonder if they know my heart breaks for them each time I see them settle for less than their own personal best. I wonder if my words carried any weight; or if, like me so many years ago, they treated them like a lump of coal and just tucked them away. Only time will tell.