Our Looks & Our Egos
I’m sure that you will agree with me that there is now a universal use of the female body as a marketing tool. You see that on the covers of all the magazines in all the countries you visit. This has led to an obsession with the way we look and with the definition of beauty, even though only 5% of the women fit into the stereotype used.
The problem is that even the 5% that fits the stereotype feels that their looks bias their worth in the praise they get whatever they did or achieved. This obsession with the way we look and then our disrespect for ourselves creates a destructive feedback loop. The obsession may also lead to emotional disorders such as Bulimia.
Also, there is a false association between the way we physically look and our attributes so beautiful people are supposed to be also kind and compassionate and so on, which is obviously not true. I have to say here that taking care of your body is a responsibility but it should be the means to an end and not the end itself.
Our self-worth should never be simplified to mean how good we look but how good we feel.
Unlike our good qualities and deeds, our bodies get ill, get old and unfortunately; eventually die.
So what is the way out? The best answer I found was in a book named A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. Tolle argues that our salvation lies in our ability to convert the emphasis from outside to inside. i.e. it is not how you look but how you feel. It is the positive energy that you have and the change you can effect in your life and the lives of those around you. It is how successful you are in de-emphasising your ego and the “I” as well as all material possessions including our bodies.
As people age they turn into one of two types: they either have their spirits and moral values shine through their ageing bodies or become disengaged with life and even dismissive of its meaning and purpose.
Always go deep into your inner spirit and purify it. We are in the end eternal spiritual beings imprisoned by decaying physical bodies.