YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL

Heart of Gold, 24 Karat, Authentic, Genuine, Real. All words trying to describe quality, undiluted.

Ultimately a person, like 24 Karat Gold needs to be mixed or alloyed with another metal to make it stronger because otherwise it is so soft, pure and malleable that you can bend and even break it with your hands.

Beauty is said that it is in the ‘eye of the beholder’; in the eye of the person who looks upon it. I think this means that the person who sees beauty in something is also the one who is also the one who is capable of appreciating it.  

Historically however, some beauty is recognized universally. Some creations, most often in art, are recognized universally and groups can agree that certain places and things are worthy of being part of the shared World Heritage of Mankind.

As individuals, we are said to respond to something beautiful more readily than something that is not. When that beauty is both internal and external, in a person especially, I think there is something within us that responds to the honest and genuine qualities we see in the other person. It is as if something light and pure shines through, and this resonates within us and is in harmony with our inner better nature. 

I think of how instinctively and naturally we smile and are charmed by the joyfulness of the very young child or baby animal. We see in front of us a bundle of energy and spontaneity caroming through life, bouncing off the walls, rebounding off of the floor and generally curious and full of wonder at the bright, shiny new world in front of it. 

When we meet someone we feel understands us we feel we can be natural and honest with them both easily and spontaneously. I think our soul sings in harmony expressing happiness and elation.

In what seems to be an ever coarsening world around us, we somewhat wistfully need to acknowledge that most of us have needed to toughen up in order to survive what life deals out to us. The carapace we build around ourselves can actually become so tough that little light ever penetrates the defensive perimeter we have built around ourselves.

When we bring out the best in others or they seem to be offering it to us, it behooves us to take a moment and appreciate that something rare and beautiful is before us. It is pure and good and therefore also fragile and vulnerable. 

Let us hope that we have not lost the capacity to recognize, enjoy and appreciate, if only for a moment that someone is offering us a beautiful gift. It has the potential to change us for the better and we should, when we can, welcome such constructive chances to change ourselves for the better. 

I truly want to be the change that I want to see in the world that Gandhi spoke of. I want to be part of the group of people who lets the best spirit go forward. Because of this I am teaching myself to consciously hold back when feeling anger and hurt from expressing my anger and hurt back. 

I would rather pass on good things than bad. There is already enough pain in the world without any of us adding to it. I accept very easily now that I cannot please everyone and recognize also that not everyone can please me. 

I urge you to make a conscious resolution to look for the best rather than the worst in those you meet today and every day. You will be pleasantly surprised to see more beauty than ever before. I assure you that the people around you will respond differently to you because you are responding differently to them.

I think that this is another of the small steps, including Smiling, which as you know I consider addictive and contagious, which we can take towards making this world a better place. In any case; it works for me. Maybe it’ll work for you if you give it a try.