The overuse of the word beauty has led to a diluting of its true meaning. Frankly, to the average individual the word itself proves to be a disappointment and a major cut to one’s self-confidence when it should be the exact opposite. Webster’s Dictionary defines the word as the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit. This simple definition does not even begin to scratch the surface of the true meaning. The theory of beauty is now revolved around appearance; however, beauty runs far deeper than the picture perfect image and the artificial appearance of those individuals who are held to the faux standard of "beautiful." Beauty comes from within. It is undeniably appealing to the eye, but it lies past complexion and falls into the unsurpassed ability of who a person is inside and out.

"Beautiful" people are those who have the most eloquent faces, who have the most faultless skin, and who have the most alluring appearances, but only a minority of the population actually fit into this category of appealing individuals. A lot of the time people compare themselves to celebrities and models and end up feeling despondent about their own looks. The word beauty in a way scares average people because they do not believe they fit the impossibly airbrushed criteria.Today anyone can open up a magazine, turn on the television, or open up a website and find an eye-catching or attractive celebrity whose flawless perfection brings despair to the standard individual whose only desire is to look like Scarlett Johansson. It is merely idiotic to idolize someone for their "beauty" when standard belief in what it beauty is, is faulty. Yet, people worship the feet of the purely attractive and scurry mercilessly about their whole lives to attain the unattainable. Sadly, beauty is often taken as perfection. Perfection, simply cannot in any way, shape, or form be attained by any human being whatsoever, it is impossible.

Contrary to popular belief beauty is not just encompassed in the attractiveness
of the individual. It is what is beneath all the make-up and the glam. It takes a lot more
than appearance to exemplify true beauty. Someone with an unattractive or “ugly”
personality, for example, couldn't possibly be considered the prototypical vision of
beauty, could they? The individual may be the most appealing person anyone has ever
laid eyes on but they do not encompass a beautiful persona. Who is to be the judge of whether someone’s looks overpower their disposition? Although it is doubtful that
nobody be the judge of anyone, it would surely be beneficial to society as a whole if
people were more receptive of the inner beauty. Societies verdict, however, does not
define whether one is beautiful or not. It is within one’s own self that they find their own
true beauty.

To be beautiful one does not have to be the most attractive on the outside. If a person is always striving for pure goodness in everything, if the person is gentle hearted and forgiving, and if the person is truly the best they can possibly be, they unquestionably exhibit true beauty.

Confucius once said that “everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”

As valid as this statement is, regardless of the fact that everyone sees things differently, the ability to display beauty is in everyone. It can range from the general kindness and good natured actions to subtle modesty. A beautiful person gives up their own time to help someone that could never fathom repaying them in anyway. A beautiful person is not ill-willed and is always looking to find the good for others. It is not often that people like this are noticed, yet the sincere heart of a person such as this is beautiful in itself. Beauty is selfless, it is genuine and pure. An infant is not beautiful just for the way it looks; it is beautiful for its pure goodness that has yet to be tainted by the cruel world it just entered. The people who keep that goodness despite the unforgiving realm they dwell in are beautiful people.

Beauty is being the best possible version of oneself on the inside and out. People
judge based on appearance but a person is made up of far more than that. A person
can be beautiful without looking stellar, a person is beautiful if they are truly the best
they can be. Not one person is completely the same as someone else, but if at an
individual’s best they look like a model from Vogue or Sloth from the Goonies, as long
as they are trying their best to be good natured and selfless they exemplify true beauty.
Beauty can come from anywhere, not just what the magazines and television demonstrate. To be attractive is one thing, to epitomize beauty is quite another.