Is External Beauty That Important?
We live in a society where aesthetics are continually promoted. The bodies of famous people, actors, models are almost always retouched with photoshop before appearing in magazines, to ensure that their image is perfect. This way passes the idea that, if we are beautiful, we will be more successful in life.
Why do so many women worry too much about their physical appearance? The number of people who resort to cosmetic surgery is increasing, because we try to present ourselves to others with the best possible appearance. Is it true what we tell each other, that we make ourselves beautiful to feel good about ourselves or unconsciously we do it just to please others?
For some people, physical appearance can become an obsession and, instead of thinking about well-being, they only think about how beautiful they are or not. Time passes, and I am unable to accept the first wrinkles, the signs of the body that is no longer as young as it once was, etc.
Beauty is not everything
It is clear that, at first glance, the physical aspect is our business card. But in the end, what pleases us to others is a series of characteristics that affect the personality: values, attitude, attention, our way of doing, etc. Yet many people don’t realize this, and their happiness depends on their physical appearance.
How, then, to accept the passage of time? How to stop giving so much importance to physical appearance? It is not easy in an age where the image is constantly being sold to us, but if we can realize that what matters is within us, our priorities may change.
The true value of people is always in their essence, in their values and in their way of treating others. It is in our behavior, in everything that shapes our personality. If we are able to realize that what matters is within us, we will finally be able to abandon that addiction to “wanting to please”, the search for compliments, the obsession with being beautiful, the frustration when our body does not like us or transforms in the years.
How can we understand if we depend on the image?
Who among us has never experienced the feeling of not liking each other? Even models or people who look beautiful to us sometimes feel they look awful. It is precisely in those days that we must ask ourselves if our priority is physical appearance or personality.
Nobody likes not to look good, but people addicted to physical appearance, seeing themselves unattractive completely ruins their day. If they don’t like each other in the morning looking in the mirror, they are no longer able to have a normal social life, and they feel frustrated. Conversely, those who prioritize personality may feel that they look bad, but they accept it and that doesn’t stop them from enjoying the day and their social relationships.
Most teenagers, for example, place enormous emphasis on physical appearance. Not liking each other can undermine their self-esteem, because it seems like it’s all about aesthetics. But this is due to the fact that at that age the personality is not yet fully developed in a stable and satisfactory way.
Yet being an adult does not guarantee that you have overcome this “addiction” to physical appearance. Often even people with strong personalities have gaps, inner conflicts, self – esteem problems , etc. This causes them to cling to being beautiful to gain approval from others, when in reality it is our personality that pleases us and brings people together.
Accept yourself as you are, regardless of your flaws. The ideal would be that we all lower our aesthetic needs and that we increase them in terms of the way of being. Many women spend hours fixing their hair, putting on make-up, dressing elegantly… But do we do the same with our personality? We nourish our skin to make it look beautiful, but do we also nourish our soul? Ultimately, what gives us happiness is having a well-developed, stable personality with strong values, rather than appearance. The outward appearance, in fact, is not at all stable, it changes every day and is lost over the years.
Focus on your inner essence
If we want to achieve happiness and keep it, we must realize that we have both a body and a soul. The body is the means we have to move and perceive, but it can change overnight, and age over time. The soul, on the other hand, is a stable thing, it does not change, it lasts forever: we should give more value to our essence and focus on what is inside us, rather than on our image.
The physique attracts, but the personality falls in love. And, as the Little Prince said, ” the essential is invisible to the eye “.
Image courtesy of Alba Soler
