The Most Beautiful People
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep, loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”
~Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
Beautiful people do not just happen. What an amazing concept. All of us want to be beautiful, both inside and outside. This quote exemplifies the truth that inner beauty is developed through really living life, with all of its challenges, and coming to a real understanding that every experience provides an opportunity to develop more resilience, more character, more strength, more compassion, and more vulnerability.
We truly cannot empathize with those going through struggles if we ourselves have never experienced loss, defeat or difficulties ourselves. We honestly think we can understand how it must feel to go through certain trials, but I have learned that I “thought” I understood until I went through it myself. I have joined a few sisterhoods, such as being a mother, being a blind woman, and having breast cancer. These are all life-changing experiences… that changed my life, my heart, and my level of compassion.
None of us want to go through challenges, and we certainly do not want those we love to, but when we look back on the resilience we gain and the compassion we develop, most would agree that these life changing experiences have helped us experience life in a more profound way. This then gives us the opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of others. In fact I believe that if we do not use the knowledge and strength we have gained to impact others lives, we ourselves lose a tremendous opportunity for healing in ourselves.
What defeat, suffering, struggle, and/or loss have you lived through? What did you learn? How did these experiences increase your appreciation? Are you more sensitive? What do you now understand about life? Do you feel a greater level of compassion, gentleness, and a deep, loving concern for others? I suspect so.
I have had the privilege to know some amazingly beautiful people… and in all honesty these are people who have suffered, struggled, and experienced great loss—and are people of true strength and compassion.
Life experiences make us much more beautiful because they force us to look past the external, and to look at the depths of who we are and who others are and find real beauty!
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Connecting With Sylvia:
- Facebook: @Sylvia Stinson-Perez
- Twitter: @SylviaSPerez101
- American Foundation for the Blind: afb.org
Author Bio:
Sylvia Stinson-Perez has spent her career in the blindness field, and is the Chief Programs Officer for the American Foundation for the Blind. Sylvia believes the authentic shared experience of living with vision loss can lead to the development of bold confidence in living with blindness. She loves helping others find their beauty and courage on this journey.
Sylvia has Master’s degrees in Social Work, Visual Disabilities Rehabilitation, and Business Administration. Sylvia is blind as a result of Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), however, she believes that everyone should have the opportunity to achieve their potential.
Sylvia is a wife, a mother, a friend, an advocate, and a professional dedicated to making a positive difference. She enjoys reading, cooking, travel, crocheting, writing and public speaking, and time with loved ones.
Image Descriptions:
- Header image: A closeup photo of Colleen Connor and her guide dog Joplin. Colleen’s brown hair is parted, she’s wearing black and white hoop earrings and is smiling broadly at Joplin while he looks directly at the camera.
- Regina Mitchell is at work in the kitchen. Her long dark hair is pulled back in a ponytail, her sleeves are rolled up and she’s wearing an apron and gloves. In the background, various ingredients and cooking utensils can be seen. In the video. Regina is talking to us from her kitchen wearing a coral v-neck top with large hoop earrings and her hair is in a ponytail over her right shoulder.
- The author’s bio photo is a glam photo of Sylvia in a pink dress with spaghetti straps. Her hair is in a fancy updo with a pink flower on the left of her bun.