Internal Beauty vs. External Beauty

Tell me something about people close to you? Why are you with them? What do you like about them? Are you attracted to them because of how they look, or are you drawn to them because of who they are and how they make you feel?

Everyone defines beauty differently. Yet, most of us tend to worship and praise physical beauty more than we do the beauty of character.

Our thinking has been changed by social media apps in recent years. They do not have an immediate effect on us. However, they alter the way we think day by day, bit by bit. We might feel attractive in one app but unattractive in another. Each of them has a different impact on us.

For me, apps like Instagram creates pressure to conform to certain standards of outer beauty and living and present a filtered, highly-curated version of reality at best and nothing more.

Some people are only concerned about their appearance, fashion, and makeup. However, they are only part of a person’s outer physical beauty. It’s just surface-level.

There is also an inner beauty – the beauty that is in our hearts, in our character, in our ethics, in our acts, in our goodwill, and in our kindness. A part of our inner beauty is also what we feel and how we think.

It is not about the face we wear But the kindness and love we share
It is about being true to ourselves And living with integrity and grace

Outer beauty is subjective. So who and what you might find beautiful might not be attractive to someone else.

Outer beauty is a gift, no doubt,
But it is something that fades, without a doubt

Although inner beauty has a universal quality , its effects can be seen at all times. Everyone appreciates kindness, loyalty, integrity, empathy, generosity, and compassion, for instance. Those outer characteristics fade in time, but the inner qualities endure for a lifetime.

People have almost no control over their height and other physical attributes. Thus, beauty should be contingent on our decisions, the things we do, and the characteristics we develop, and not just on winning the genetic lottery.

So let’s stop focusing only on physical beauty and try to appreciate the beauty in goodness. Let’s see the beauty in talent and recognize the beauty in skills. Let’s see the beauty in justice and see the beauty in life without prejudgment.

Let’s strive to be the best version of ourselves, both inside and out.