Finding the Beauty Within

Ever notice how a smile instantly lights up someone’s face?   Details of physical appearance fade away and you just see the light within shining through.  Definitions of physical attractiveness may vary between cultures, but smiles are universally beautiful.  That’s because the love and joy from that person is reflecting out.

Recently, I was gifted with a very nice spa package.  I’d never experienced a spa day, but I looked forward to the experience.  When I arrived, the facility was beautiful, the staff was helpful, and I could tell that attention had been put into every detail of physical comfort.  Later, sitting on a sun-covered porch, I listened to the soft sounds of a waterfall, watched the hummingbirds play around me, and took in the expansive view of a mountainside.  I realized that everything I saw matched how I felt.  Everything seemed so peaceful.

Yet, if I wasn’t relaxed and at ease on that sun porch, the tinkling sounds of the waterfall could easily have been annoying, the activity of the hummingbirds distracting, and the view of the mountain would likely have seemed not nearly so spectacular.  But feeling beauty inside, I looked out and saw…more  beauty.

 

I used to frequent a massage place that was located in an older building.  It didn’t have the latest décor or all of the frills, and could easily have been termed “quirky” in its general appearance.  But everyone there truly loved their work, and they were dedicated to supporting inner healing as well as physical healing.  I loved going there because it felt so good.  I saw beauty because that’s what was reflecting from the inside.  So, what if we spent as much time polishing our inner selves as we spend polishing the outer?  What if we focused on the beautiful mountain view within each of us?

Maybe it’s time to schedule yourself an inner “spa day.”  Take some time to reflect on where you are in your life and what is beautiful about it.  Make a list of what is beautiful about you (and let it be a long list!)  Then allow yourself to really feel the truth of that beauty and you’ll find that it’s reflected everywhere you look.