Day 698: I am Not Only What You See

I am not only what you see when you look upon me, nor am I what I see in the mirror.

I am not the shape of my legs, nor the shade of my eyes.

I am not the curve of my hips, nor the arch of my feet.

I am not the size of my nose, nor the lilt in my step.

I am not the body of my hair, nor the shape of my lips.

I am not the face you see before you.

I am not the sound of my voice.

I am not the gender of my body.

I am not the length of my arms.

I am not the size of my thighs.

I am not the smoothness of my skin.

I am not the height I reach.

While who I am may have an effect on all of these things, who I am is still who I choose to be and not what I look like.

This is a society in which we value physical appearance above so much else - but for what? For what reason should the way we look determine so much in our lives? What is the purpose in placing so much value and focus in a thing such as gender - why does it matter?

These things only matter because we have given them value. Appearance and gender are not determinants of who you are - you determine who you are. We are born with a particular body - we do not choose our bodies - but we can be content with our bodies. We can accept our bodies, within the realisation that our bodies do not define us. Once you die and look back upon your life it is not your appearance that you will focus on, it is your choices and your actions - the way you lived your life. Why then do we live as if it is a matter of life and death?

Imagine for a moment that we did not see ourselves and each other as physical bodies, but as the very essence of who we are. Imagine if beauty was redefined to include every single thing in existence.

We do not have to limit ourselves within the beliefs and conditioning that have become the norm - we can let go and make peace with ourselves. We can live within the understanding that it is our choices and actions in this world that matter and within that we can give ourselves beauty - the beauty of knowing you have done the very best you can to make life as good as possible for as many as you can.