The Illusion of Appearances

It is so easy to look at celebrities and think that they have it all: looks, money, a passionate relationship, etc. How many times have you read a magazine or watched a show on television while thinking, "wow, they have everything. I wish my life was more like that."

Let's take the relationship part in particular. What is more alluring and hypnotic than "two beautiful people" being "beautiful together"? Then, you hear about the breakups. Ben and Jennifer, Blake and Miranda and, the latest celebrity casualty, Will and Jada. 

We hear about this and we are SHOCKED. Our heart sinks and we die a little inside. We cry, "but they looked so HAPPY!"

Did you catch that last line? They. LOOKED. So. HAPPY. But, they weren't in the long run. At least, they weren't happy together or else they wouldn't be separating. Their looks, money, and passion just weren't enough to hold it together. And yet, we can't accept that. We are so disillusioned because we are under the impression that all we need to be happy is a beautiful face, a killer body, a model spouse and a big, fat bank account.

Do you get sucked into the comparison trap? Thanks to technology gifting us with the internet and television, it's pretty damn hard not to. We are virtually assaulted with hundreds of images on a daily basis. The media, social and otherwise, teaches us how to fall in love and worship illusions. We so desperately want the fantasy of flawless beauty and perfection because they make it look so freakin' appealing!

Appearances mean nothing. Absolutely nothing. You cannot judge a book by it's cover. No matter how good something may look on the outside, there is no guarantee that it's good on the inside. How things look in public is not an accurate representation of how they may be in private. We assume that what we SEE is how things ARE. But, they usually aren't.

Instead of watching people in Hollywood on the internet, what if we paid more attention to our own lives? Instead of wishing we had what other people have, what if we took care of what belonged to us? What would your life be like if you no longer measured it against the lives of your co-workers, favorite, actors, family, friends, or peers?

Food for thought.