I recently came to the realization that I place too high a value on the way I look and, in turn, on the way others do. Admitting it to myself, and thinking about what it was doing to my mental state was hard; I didn't want to think I could be that shallow. But reflecting on it has made me come to some serious conclusions.
Judging people on how they look is not going to make you happy, and comparing yourself to others solely based on appearance can't have a good outcome. Envying someone else for their looks can only diminish what you think of yourself. There aren't any benefits to looking at someone and determining you are better than them based on appearance either. That leads to placing a lot of self worth in the way you are on the outside. With age, you learn more, you get wiser, you get a little better every day, whereas outward beauty is going to fade away. Placing self worth in appearance sets you up to view yourself as fading away instead of growing.
Your value as a human being doesn't have anything to do with the way you look. An animal's worth, like a show dog, is determined by measurements: height and weight, or how true they are to a certain standard. People are not cattle. Humans are distinguished from animals by the ability to reason, and an immense capacity for emotion and complex thought. The truly beautiful part of humanity has absolutely nothing to do with appearance. Do you know what every author you've read looks like? What about whoever invented the wheel. For goodness sake, we don't know what Jesus looked like, and you know what? It doesn't matter. People are not defined by how they look, and you cannot possibly determine what's in someone's heart and mind by looking at them.
People should never be confined to any type of general standard. Difference is what makes the world work. If everyone was only good at architecture, we'd have a whole lot of buildings and nothing to fill them with. Without discrepancies in opinions and perspectives, we'd have an extremely flat, one sided view of the world. Humanity has the capacity to be so breathtakingly beautiful because it is comprised of independent individuals. Everyone is a part of that.
Instead of pitting yourself up against others embrace your inner beauty, and learn to see the same in everyone around you. Learn to love a beauty that's going to last, one that can impact and influence the world.
Never reduce yourself, or anyone else, to a pretty face. Do the human race a favor and show them what you're really worth.
