Time and time again, I see people in the same old situation. Skateboarders and bikers cruise as their wheels click on the cracks of the sidewalk. The social groups who can't walk without friends to talk to, and the loners who stumble over their own feet as they travel forward.

Walking past multiple stones and rocks people usually move on without a care, never to realize they are in similar situations to those stones.

From being thrown into murky water to being kicked down the rubble filled streets rocks had to adjust to their environments, they had to learn to survive. Rocks have been chipped into pieces the size of a ladybug. Although they do not gain the beauty and the same speckled cherry appearance, if every rock had a pop of color, maybe they would mean more to us and we wouldn't look past their beauty.

The question "what is beauty?" comes up in these thoughts. Is it thin, is it a certain shade? Like humans, each rock is one of a kind. Sure, they may come from the same place and be pieces of each other, but they have gained scratches and sharp edges that tell a story.

Rocks travel a long ways from where they are originally formed. They see new places, they get scratches like humans get scars. Some become stuck in cracks or grates among their journey, but some conquer and move forward.

I have two important questions to ask you. One, what kind of rock are you right now? Two, what kind of rock do you want to become?

I do have some follow up questions for you. Will you be soft and crumble? Will you harden and hurt others while trying to survive? Or will you become strong and push forward? Will you help others, like a rock that holds the door open? Are you a painted rock who brings joy into someone's life?

This is all up to you. You define who you are, no one else does.