You Are Beautiful

I wanted to share this with you all today. I hope you are encouraged.

At my work today I overheard some older ladies gossiping about a neighbour to one of the women. She said "she's not really pretty" when describing what she looks like to the other woman, "dry hair, wrinkled". And that made me feel uneasy. I thought about it as I was working, I thought about saying something to that woman. And finally before coffee break started, I got the courage to go up to her and tell her that even though we all say stuff and it's hard to be nice to people we don't like, what you said wasn't the nicest thing to say about someone because you don't know what they are going through. She was thankful I said something and agreed she was out of line. Then it got me thinking about the concept of beauty...

What is beauty? Lately I've been asking myself this question. What makes something beautiful? What makes us say, "you're beautiful", or "that is beautiful"? What makes us say, "she's not really pretty", "that's ugly"? What has conditioned us to view things, or bodies, or faces as either beautiful or ugly? Why are the things that are old and wrinkled not as beautiful as the things that are young and smooth? What would happen if we viewed everything as beautiful? That lady that has dry hair and is older, she is beautiful. That man who homeless on the street, he is beautiful. That young girl that thinks she isn't good enough, she is beautiful. People who are bigger, smaller, various colours, different beliefs, different languages, different emotions, they are all beautiful. The only ugliness in the world is the pain and evil that comes from unkindness. Be kind today, because you never know how your kindness can ripple out into others. And remember: you are beautiful.