Not so Skin Deep

I received a beautiful email this morning; it started me thinking.
The email talked about how our experiences make us more beautiful on the inside. It tells of how difficult times only serve to purify and beautify our soul and how they render us more beautiful to others. Physical beauty fades; inner beauty develops.
The email reminded me of a remark I once made. I once remarked to a colleague that I was more popular at forty than I was at twenty-one. Indeed, I feel these days that people appreciate me for what I consider the simplest of deeds. It surprises me.
But then, looking back, I remember how completely taken I was by people who were living or had lived their lives to the fullest. These people attracted me in such a way their beauty was unsurpassed. I realise now that their beauty was not the skin deep beauty adored by the shallow minded, rather it was the deep splendour of a soul that had been through hard times, weathered many storms and survived the various calamities only to shine more brightly than ever. It was a soul that never ceased to grow and never tired of touching lives.
Perhaps, it is only after we have sampled and endured difficult times that we appreciate others and understand what they go through. We are both softened and hardened by life. We react naturally and truthfully to certain situations and that makes us the compassionate guide appreciated by those whose lives we touch
The thing is that the more we touch lives, the more our lives are touched and the more we experience. Strange, that by shining brightly, we recharge our souls making them even more beautiful than ever.
Wow! The ironies of life…