"Good-looking" people have easier lives...

According to some statistics, "good-looking" people have easier lives. They get the good jobs, promotions, partners, friends, positions, etc. and in general live happier lives. So what does good-looking mean? According to Farlex: good-looking = "pleasing in appearance especially by reason of conformity to ideals of form and proportion". (I am assuming here that those ideals varies with different cultures, since the statistics didn't speculate.)

However, what some of the interesting results showed was that people trust a good-looking stranger more easily than an odd looking acquaintance, we trust charismatic good-looking politicians, rather than sincere, honest, average looking ones, we allow good-looking people to butt in to the line in front of us, we rush to help good-looking people with their broken grocery bags, but not so readily the strange-looking fat people......actually, statistics showed that they often get no help at all, mostly they get our disrespect and judgemental attitude. So said the statistics...conclusion to me seemed to be: be born good-looking, that way you have better options and a happier life.

"Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder" someone said, but according to the statistics we seem to have the same eyes. Regardless of what culture sets the ideals, or the desired proportions, some people are given advantages for having something they did nothing to acquire, they just got lucky in the gene pool, and others, not equally lucky, have to work twice as hard for the same outcomes.

 For a period of about a year I joined a charity organisation which handed out blankets and food to the homeless. On the weekends we loaded up a small bus with donated clothing, blankets, and food items, we served hot tea or coffee, and/or soft drinks to all who came to the bus. For those who wanted it, we also provided a listening ear and some emergency information if needed. Most of the people who came to the bus were disenfranchised people, people with alcohol/drug issues, mental health disorders, an assortment of physical ailments, and a variety of other problems, and their physical presentations most often could not be classified as "good-looking". This for many of us can be experienced as very challenging since most of us are brought up in a culture that "judges the book by its cover", and though I had had illusions of being a person not juding the book by its cover, I was immediately put in touch with my true nature the very first weekend I joined the crew in the bus.

Change happens in increments, and although initially shocked at my own inablity to disregard the exterior in favour of the interior qualities of a human being, I am forever determind to be more sensitive to another persons "being" rather than the wrapping.

 

Is beauty the same as good-looking? Can a good-looking person be void of beauty and an unsightly person beautiful? Are good looks skin deep, but true beauty springs forth from the depths of a being?

Joseph Carey Merrick, also known as the Elephant Man, in his short and very torturous life, in spite of his outward appearance became known to many as a "beautiful" human being regardless of the "husk". His inner "beauty" made outward appearances unimportant.

Many things us humans value, come wrapped in "ugly" exteriors; pearls, diamonds, and many others precious stones to mention a few. Many of the most delectable foods we eat, also come in varying degrees of "ugly" and unsightly appearances. We have patience with and acceptance of the unappealing because we know of the "beauty" within.....

Maybe this may also be applied to human beings? Is there a "gem of beauty" inside of every human, regardless of the exterior?

 Albert Einstein: "Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty."

"Love is the beauty of the soul" Saint Augustine

"Life is full of beauty. Notice it......." Ashley Smith

Maybe there is not beauty hidden under every thorny bush, or rough exterior,

but assuming that there is,

helps to bring out the beauty in us.