“I can cover myself with layers and layers of senseless goo emerging from tubes and jars, but will they give me radiance, exuberance, warmth, joy, the glow from my inner being?” ~ Zeina Glo

In today’s culture of fake tans, plastic surgery and perfection, it’s sometimes hard to discern between the perception of beauty versus the true qualities of being beautiful. Unfortunately, many people focus on their outward appearance, neglecting the internal core of their essence. It’s like having a bejeweled chalice full of mud.
A wise person learns that cultivating the inside is what will bring true beauty to their character. Those who have determined to make themselves lovely through their actions create a world full of truly beautiful people–those who spread kindness, compassion and empathy–.
Too often, people who judge their own worth based upon good genes, gifted surgeons or purchasing top-notch beauty products, surround us. And yet, these things pass away. We all get old and our outer beauty fades as well. But the inner nature of a person–the things that make you want to know a person, inhabit their space and fashion yourself after them–are things that never pass with age. It’s something time can’t take away from you, and requires no mirror to assess or confirm. It’s a soul compass that lets you know you are beautiful because the qualities you have integrated into your life continue enhance your beauty.
What if the entire world were blind, and could only admire the loveliness of a person based upon the way they treated others, helped the downtrodden, and showed empathy and compassion for those who deserved it most? It’s safe to say that many businesses would go by the wayside because their emollients, lasers and diet plans would no longer hold a preeminent position in a person’s life.
Further imagine that these were the things that each and every person strived to achieve instead—seeking a common good for all people, leaving behind a lasting legacy of love and helping another person instead of looking down on him. What a wonderful world it would be if the content of a person’s heart and soul were the elements upon which they were deemed worthy.
If we, as a culture, choose to worship beauty for the positive things it creates in the lives of others–as something that’s emanated from the inside instead of the outside–then the “perfection industry” would be forced to reassess the things that truly make a person beautiful. Dove, manufacturers of soap and other products, has made great strides in this arena over the past years. They recognize, and proudly advertise, that beauty has nothing to do with what the eye can see.
Once a person starts carrying an internal awareness, which guides them on the peaceful path of inner beauty, they pay no mind to how society misleads them into believing their beauty should look. Being beautiful has more to do with inner perception than appearance, and blessed is the person who learns this lesson sooner than later.