Who is the authority on what makes someone beautiful, cool, or the best?
We are bombarded by media messages that tell us what we need to look like, wear, do, or use to be beautiful. They tell us to use this toothpaste/toothbrush for a cleaner radiant smile, use this tooth whitener for whiter teeth, which make-up to use and how to use it, and of course be sure to have shining hair by using the right shampoo and conditioner… the right hair color even makes a difference.
We mustn’t forget that size matters as well. Remember when Kirstie Alley was upset with Abercrombie and Fitch’s 00 and XS sizes (nothing larger than a size 10 in their retail stores) because there were no XLs and XXLs? Do you really have to be a particular size to be a cool kid?
While it might be physically healthy to maintain a healthy weight through diet and exercise, this doesn’t determine beauty.
Who says what is beautiful? Is there only one way to define beauty? If so, then everyone who has that one thing would know that what they have is beauty. And everyone who encounters them would know it as well. Of course, it follows that if you don’t have it, you don’t have beauty either.
However, we don’t all agree on what defines beauty, do we? Therefore, it must be that beauty is defined by thought… It is beautiful if I think it is beautiful.
Have you ever noticed that at first glance you may not think someone is attractive at all and then once you get to know them, their friendly personality, their smile, etc., that the person you thought was unattractive becomes very beautiful or very handsome… or very attractive. What happened? How is it that a person’s outer appearance changes from unattractive to attractive?
Did that person have cosmetic surgery to change? Or did something else happen? Was it the beauty from the inside out that created a sense of outer beauty?
Have you ever encountered an outgoing, effervescent individual who was beautiful but, in your opinion, a little overweight, or had big thighs and still wearing tight jeans, or had a weird hair style? Was their beauty dependent upon the one thing that you zeroed-in on that wasn’t ok?
Why did you zero-in on what, in your opinion, wasn’t ok? Check out Part II to find out why.