Am I Attractive?

I recently (not so recently) read a post that my friend wrote on her blog about attractiveness and being single. Here it is, if you want to read it.

In her post, she talks about this article.

Basically (for all our tl;dr readers) each article addresses the subject of the relation between ugliness and singleness...as well as stipulating that ugliness is not only in the eye of the beholder, but is secondary to the beauty of your heart and spirit.

I have never thought of myself as ultra pretty or "drop dead gorgeous." I also don't think I fall into the camp of "ugly." I would like to think that I am mildly attractive by the world's standards. Of course I bet if I lost some weight, that would increase, but I think I look the same regardless. I make sure that I am washed and presentable and that I wear clothing that looks good on me. I don't wear a ton of make-up, mostly because it takes up too much time... and I value things like sleep more than make-up.

BUT...why do these things matter? I mean, not to sound prideful or cocky, but I think I am pretty freaking awesome man. I am kind and helpful and charitable. I am funny and witty and sarcastic. I am smart and successful and know a lot of cool and useless things. I am creative and love to learn about anything/everything. So where do looks factor into life and my personal happiness? Let's take a look at a quote from the letter in the article above. The guy writes saying:

As a result of this, my faith and patience with the Lord have been tried. I keep telling myself He could have made me handsome, but He didn’t. Why? Why am I ugly and a lot of my close friends are attractive (and married, too). At this point in my life I have very little hope of ever being happy. I feel like what’s the point of being good? What’s the point of keeping the commandments? To what end? To what end?

I have had a lot of friends that have come to me regarding not being able to find happiness in their life because of >>insert excuse here<<. Stuff like: "I can't be happy because I am still single. I can't be happy because I am buried in debt. I can't be happy because I can't find a job"...and the list goes on and on. Here's exactly what I tell each of these people:

Happiness is something you have to find within yourself.

If you aren't happy now, gaining something won't make you magically happy. Being happy is a choice. You have to make it everyday. I know that there are some extenuating factors that contribute to happiness that people can't control--like depression, PTSD, abuse etc--but on the whole, we are in control of our own happiness. And whether we can attain that by natural means, or even through medication, exercise, yoga... whatever... it's up to each of us to find happiness within ourselves and within this moment now.

Each person in this life is beautiful and unique and wonderful in their own way. I truly believe that it is our purpose in this life to find out what sets us apart and to utilize that to help other people along this crazy journey of life.

Does life always work out in our favor??? No. Do we get lost along the way sometimes? Yes. But you are WORTH everything. You are wonderful and beautiful and smart and pretty and useful and magnificent. Don't let anyone tell you different... especially yourself. Sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees... meaning that we are too close to things to see the big picture. Too close to our pain. Too close to the rejection. Too close to the bullying. We can't see that we mean something... and maybe even everything to someone else.

Am I attractive??? I guess that's in the eye of the beholder. But ask me if I care.