My husband and I recently attended a very fancy black tie event. And we both looked pretty spiffy in our evening attire. As did everyone else.
There's something wonderful about being at a formal event where everyone looks their very best. It's not every day that people make a concerted effort to step out of their jeans, t-shirts, sweatpants, and sneakers, and slip into their most beautiful physical self. It's a moment to get a glimpse of their potential for showing up beautiful, elegant, and perfectly groomed. And it's an opportunity to see how each person gets to express that potential in their own unique way.
What struck me the most was how I was seeing people in a very different way. Gone were the regular and ordinary clothes. This was an evening when everyone felt beautiful and was beautiful. We were all shining stars.
I'm a true believer that we all have the potential to be beautiful. Not just physically, but beautiful in the purest sense-- in our heart and soul. That pure beauty is there within all of us. Indeed, our truest self is breathtakingly beautiful.
The problem is that our true self gets obscured and covered over when we engage in gossip, smallness, jealousy, lack of forgiveness, resentment, and a myriad of other petty emotions. They cover us over and disguise our true nature in the same way a frumpy pair of sweatpants can hide a great body shape.
Michelangelo said that whenever he began carving a statue, he believed that God had already created the statue. He claimed that he saw the angel in the marble, and his job was to carve away at the excess marble to set the angel free.
It's no different with us. In the same way that we take the time to bath, dress, and adorn our bodies for a black tie event, can you imagine if we took the time to rid ourselves of the ugly, petty, and limiting thoughts that keep us small and ordinary.
The next time you find yourself judging or arguing with others, remind yourself that they are by nature beautiful in their heart and soul, and they have just forgotten who they really are. Send them your love and forgiveness. And then notice what happens to YOU. One thing you can be sure of: You will unleash your beauty.