Brains vs. Beauty

So, today at work, I was talking to a co-worker about someone we both know, who isn't exactly the brightest crayon in the box (if you know what I mean). On the other hand, though, I think she is quite beautiful, so we began to talk about that as well. This lead into him saying something that I hear people say all the time, and I never understood why it bothered me until now. "It just goes to show, you can't be pretty AND smart."

For a long time, this comment would kinda bug me, but would otherwise go under the radar. Yes, it is true that SOME people are one or the other, but it was his repetitive comments about how I was smart that bothered me the most. ONLY smart. So, because he deemed me as more intelligent than he was, I was automatically not pretty. And... I won't lie... this hurt me pretty bad. I immediately wanted to go home and curl up in bed. Luckily, I'm strong, so I just stayed at my desk and started to think about what he said and why it bothered me, which is what lead me to write this.

I don't think that I am the most beautiful thing to walk the planet, but I do feel like I'm decently pretty. It took a long time for me to be confident and secure enough with myself to feel this way, and it's embarrassing to admit that I sometimes falter. But, in the same sense, I don't feel like I'm the most intelligent person in the world, either. However, I do know that I'm pretty smart (more in some ways than others). For example, I could *probably* school most people I know on my Marvel (mainly Spider-Man) knowledge or other topics. I also have friends that could school me on other things that I don't know as well.

We all have our own strengths and weaknesses, but weaknesses don't mean that we don't have strengths too. I may be smart, but I can also be pretty. I may like to read and write, but I also can go out and enjoy a night on the town. You see, I don't believe that ANYONE is limited to ANYTHING. Part of being human is being able to decide for yourself who you are and who you want to be. You get to choose how you see yourself, and I choose to see myself as both, as everyone should.

In fact, to see one extreme or the other is so rare that it often catches me off guard. Everyone I know is a concoction of beauty and intellect, making them their own version of a perfect storm. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but what you think of yourself is far more important than anything else. Remember, "the world will try to tell you who you are until you stand up and tell the world who you're going to be."

Be unapologetically you, and let your personality become more beautiful than looks (which WILL fade someday) could ever be.