Licking the Razor's Edge (2015)

Practical TIP #06 – The TRUE BEAUTY of KINDNESS
“For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of
kindness; for a beautiful body, do the next loving deed; and for inner poise – a beautiful
Soul, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.” ~ inspired by Audrey Hepburn
Addictions manifest themselves in our actions, and while it might seem to not be the
case, this is true with our addiction to appearances as well. Yes, we judge others as “less
then attractive” or “plain” or even “downright ugly” with our minds, and yes, we rarely
utter those words of condemnation aloud or follow through with an unkind deed. And yet
it is these very thoughts that have us acting in the most potently unloving way possible:
we distance ourselves from those others.
You see, our critical judgments of the appearances of others automatically keep us from
opening up to them. As soon as we label another as “less than” in any way, a sense of
apathy begins to grow inside of us and an deep-seated emotional sloth follows quickly on
its heels. These thoughts have us dismissing all others that are not “attractive enough”, as
we automatically look elsewhere for friends or partners who are “more worthy”. In
essence, as soon as we judge anyone else (including ourselves) to be “ugly” or “plain” in
any way, our primitive selves stop reaching out to those folks. Such thoughts
unconsciously keep us from deeply Caring – they keep us from being truly Kind.
So, logically then, one of the most powerful ways to combat this addiction is by ACTING
DIFFERENTLY – by overtly acting with Kindness; especially towards those friends,
those associates and those strangers that your ego judges most critically.
*When you catch yourself judging another’s clothes or their hair or their looks, pause for
just one instant and then go right up to that person and give them a sincere compliment.
(Hint: if you can’t think of anything about them that is “pretty”, you can always
compliment their eyes – everyone has patently gorgeous eyes.)
*When you catch yourself complaining about how “boring” life is or how “bad” the
weather happens to be, pause for just one instant, find something you are grateful for, and
then share your newfound Gratitude with another person. (Hint: if you are having a really
“bad day”, you can always choose to be deeply grateful that you are alive at all.)
*And when you catch yourself shying away from (or otherwise being intimidated by) a
“beautiful person”, pause for just one instant, and then go up to them and say something
Kind. While many of us wish that we were as pretty or as handsome as they are, it is
important to remember that such “beauty” in our society carries with it a profound
loneliness – a deep isolation from that comes from others seeing only how they look, and
rarely appreciating who they truly are. As such, it is ironically the “beautiful people” who
are often the saddest – ironically, it is the “pretty people” who often need our Kindness
the most. So choose to see past their illusory exteriors as well, and make sure they know
that you at least See the Beauty that resides within them.
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